TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



IN 



The New Thought 



:rl: 3 



BY FRANCES PARTLOW 



PUBLISHED BY 

The Psychic Research Company 

3835 VINCENNBS AVENUB 

Chicago, Ili,., U. S. A. 
February, 1903 



THE LiBRA"RY'OF^ 

CONGRESS, 
One Cop/ Received 

APR. § 1903 

CoPYRWHT ENTaV 

CLASS <^XXo. No. 

0(0 L 5^(0 

COPY S. 



Copyright 1903 by 

The psychic Research Company 

Chicago and I,ondon 



REGAN PRINTING HOUSE 

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Introduction 

When the Psychic Research Company asked 
me to put in book form my experience connected 
with the training of my children, it did not seem 
to me that I could possibly have anything worthy 
the attention of the students of New Thought 
to impart. But when I reflected that nothing 
that transpires in our lives comes to us by 
chance, it seemed to me possible that I had 
a message to give to the world in this way, 
which might be the means of bringing happiness 
into some homes where today discord reigns; and 
even more than that, I became ambitious enough 
to hope that the few words in season here given 
might be of supreme advantage in the develop- 
ment of character of those who are today the 
children, but who will eventually be the fathers 
and mothers of the coming generation. Realizing 
this responsibility, I hav^e endeavored in this little 
book to set forth, in the simple language of one 
who speaks as she feels, the rules of conduct 
which created and cemented the close intimacy 
and love existing between my children and my- 
self; a love which has been to me so great a con- 
solation that in the darkest hours of affliction it 
has been sufficient in itself to stay me and sup- 
port me, and has given me a content of spirit 
which the easiest of circumstances could never 
procure. 

Now that my work of training and caring for 
these children is almost concluded I realize, as 
never before, that it is the duty of every woman 

3 



INTRODUCTION 



to separate herself in spirit to a certain extent 
from her children, so that her eye may ever be 
of clearest vision where their best interests are 
concerned, and that no cloud of selfishness may 
obscure the rays of the true mother-wisdom. 

I think that the mission of the higher phase 
of New Thought is to bring home to the mind of 
every one the conviction that we are but instru- 
ments for the advancement of others, and that 
the more nearly we hold to this ideal, the better 
it will be eventually for our own spiritual en- 
lightenment, fulfilling in this way alone the 
scriptural prophesy that " He that loses his life 
shall find it." 

When my children shall have grown to an age 
at which they need no more my careful direction 
I shall hope that strength suflicient will be given 
me to thoroughly eliminate my personality from 
the atmosphere, as I might call it, of their con- 
duct, because it is very clearly shown to me that 
the mother-love which protects and cares for and 
helps to develop character in the children be- 
comes a weakness, rather than strength, when 
the times arrives for those children to develop 
that strength of self-assertion and individuality 
which fit them to take their part in the battle 
of life. 

It has been too often my observation that the 
strong mother makes a weak child, but to the 
credit of the mother it may be said this does not 
come from carelessness of her offspring, but from 



INTRODUCTION 



a too zealous anxiety to shield and protect the 
child from every harm, and take the burden of 
of its pain and troubles always upon herself. 

I believe that the hardest lesson for the 
mother to learn is that she must, even at the be- 
ginning, understand that she can never lavish her 
love in unstinted measure upon her children. It 
must be restricted, lest it become too much a 
staff for the child to lean upon. 

I have endeavored to make the pages which 
follow as little autobiographical as possible, the 
events of my life being my concern alone, but am 
conscious that to many the reading will seem 
trivial and of little purpose. I shall hope, how- 
ever, that there will be some who will find in its 
pages just that word of counsel which is needed 
to bring to its most perfect fruition the work of 
developing the character of those who are to suc- 
ceed us as the representative youth and manhood 
and womanhood of our nation. 



Chicago, February, 1903. 



TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

—IN— 

THE NEW THOUGHT 




CHAPTER ONE 

First Steps 

OOKING back to my own childhood 
it is almost difficult for me to rec- 
ognize in the picture that comes 
before me of the slight girl of deli- 
cate physique, proud of her ambi- 
tion, and petted and spoiled always 
by the indulgence of her parents, the foreshadow- 
ing of the woman grown. Kesponsibilities and 
duties were not for me. My love for my father 
and my church seems to have been the anchor 
which corrected the tendencies of a wilful dispo- 
sition, made still more wilful by the indulgence 
everywhere showered upon me. 

It really seems to me now that the conscious- 
ness of my first duty came to me at the birth of 
my little daughter, whom I feared even more 
than I loved. The immensity of the responsibil- 
ity thus thrust upon me, together with my utter 
lack of knowledge of any thing connected with 
the training of children was actually overpower- 
ing. I felt the seriousness of the situation to 



8 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



such an extent that I never expected to be able 
to smile again, and this feeling was made even 
stronger when I realized that here was a duty 
which I could not shirk, or place upon the shoul- 
ders of my father and mother. There came to 
me an exaggeration of the natural instinct of the 
mother to protect her young, and I continually 
hovered about this tiny morsel with soothing 
syrups and infant foods of many kinds, equally 
fearful whether it smiled upon me or cried, and 
fully expecting some dreadful or unheardof fate 
to overtake it in the way of starvation or its 
reverse, overfeeding. Fortunately, however, we 
get accustomed to whatever condition is thrust 
upon us, and though my child was always a 
wonder to me, I am thankful to say she lived 
and thrived and my love enfolded her about 
more and more each day. 

I found that at a very early age, indeed, her 
demands upon me continually increased in pro- 
portion as I submitted to them; in fact, she 
showed every indication of developing into a 
tyrant, and developed the propensity of bursting 
into tears if she considered herself neglected for 
a moment. I determined then that there was 
nothing like starting right, and resolved for my 
baby's sake to suppress any such demonstrations 
of affection on my part as were calculated to 
create in her this unceasing and unnecessary 
demand for attention from me, and so, having 
thoroughly made up my mind as to the course I 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 9 

should pursue, I sat down, so to speak, to watch 
results. From that time on the baby was not 
rocked or attended to, except when quite necessary. 

At this procedure there were of course long 
spells of crying to endure, and I found this very 
difficult to withstand. Every cry seemed to find 
an echo in my heart, and my conscience upbraided 
me with my possible coldness towards my baby 
in her sorrow. It is not a mere form of words to 
say that the suffering was much greater for me 
than for her, but I was fortunately able to 
restrain myself, and noticed among the earliest 
manifestations that the child would cry ve«y 
much harder when she could see me. In the 
course of a week or so the spells of crying grew 
less and I comforted myself with the thought 
that I was following the right line of conduct 
for her best interests. 

She very soon learned that her appeals for 
attention were quite useless, and she would then 
amuse herself by admiring her little pink fingers, 
at the same time crowing to herself in true baby 
fashion, until she happened to catch sight of me, 
when her little hands would flutter in an uncertain 
manner, and the sweet face, so lately wreathed 
in smiles, would bear an expression of distress. 
She would then utter murmuring sounds as if 
she reproached me for want of care and affection. 
I never once responded to such a demand, no 
matter how necessary it was at that time, and 
she would often fall into a sleep brought on by 



10 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



exhaustion. I think that I should have yielded 
often at those times if unusual strength had not 
been given me in this, my first effort to divert 
the will of my daughter from her own present 
interest to her future good. 

I noticed that as she learned to depend upon 
herself, she invented many little ways of amusing 
herself which grew more and more elaborate as 
she learned to creep around and then to walk. 

I attach the greatest importance to this first 
lesson in self-control which was given to her, and 
have called it the first step in the building of her 
character. It established a confidence in her 
ability to take care of herself, as well as a reli- 
ance in me when she turned to me for encour- 
agement in the important act or art of walking 
erect. Even then, although I knew nothing of 
New Thought teaching, it was as clear as crystal 
to my mind that the purpose of this child's 
advent on earth was the development of her 
individual character, and I felt that it was a 
sacred trust permitted to me to assist her to the 
best of my ability to do so. There were many 
long hours when I sat alone and planned how 
best to strengthen myself in the line of conduct 
I had mapped out. 

I found on comparing notes with other 
mothers that it was very natural for a child to 
expect and receive attendance, even in its play, 
and I heard that many mothers would drop their 
own work every time an appeal of this kind was 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 11 

made by their children, although they might 
reproach the child for interrupting them. I 
concluded that this taught the child to take 
advantage of the mother's affection, and that it 
developed a domineering manner and an exact- 
ing habit in the child which would certainly 
prove eventually of great detriment. If this line 
were followed it must result, in time, in allov>^- 
ing the child to take the control of affairs into 
its own hands, encouraging disrespect for the 
mother's guidance. Realizing this, I very early 
began to teach my little Harriet not to disturb 
me for trifles which she could herself procure, (^ 
do without until such time as I was at leisure to 
comply with her wants. If she whined and cried 
at this I never paid the slightest attention to her 
until she had controlled herself and had asked 
for my assistance in her best manner, which she 
learned was the only way to gain my interest. 
When she showed in this way that she was mis- 
tress of herself, I never failed to approach her 
with all the courtesy and deference due to a 
grown person, desiring, in this way, not only to 
fairly share her interests with her, but to impress 
upon the baby mind that the little things of 
life could be as courteously and properly 
done as the grave things must be later. 

I helped her to mend broken dolls and found 
interest in the construction of broken houses. 
I seriously argued with her the necessity of being 
kind to "kitty." I pored over the pictures ex- 



12 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



hibited in her little story books, and, in a word, 
never refused my whole-souled interest in the 
smallest thing which held her attention. It is 
very easy and very dangerous for a mother to 
push aside her child and refuse interest in the 
small things which constitute the baby's world, 
and then, as this baby grows older, complain that 
she withholds her confidence from her mother. 

I noticed that when Harriet fell and hurt her- 
self she seldom attempted to cry unless she was 
quite sure that I was near to pick her up, and at 
the same time tell her how sorry I was. I soon 
found that even that was the wrong method to 
follow, and as soon as I ignored things of this 
kind she began to pick herself up, and the tears 
came very rarely. If a bruise appeared, I imme- 
diately kissed it, and this was sufiicient for an 
instant cure. She soon ceased to look for or 
expect any more comfort from me than the balm 
of this healing kiss which was as applicable to 
her dolly's injured head as to her own. This 
authority and tender carelessness, if I may use this 
paradoxical expression, she in turn bestowed 
upon her doll, doing and saying for and to her 
doll the very things I did or said for and to her, 
with a fine imitation of my manner, and with, in 
certain instances, the same tender interest and 
consideration. 

So I came to understand that I was this tiny 
creature's ideal of motherhood, and was respon- 
sible for the creation of character in her. Child- 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 13 



ren are as imitative as monkeys, and as impress- 
ionable as wax, and we cannot be too careful of 
the example we set before them in their infancy. 

Harriet not only learned to amuse herself, 
but to keep herself clean, and began to offer, of 
her own accord, to do little things to help me, 
which, although they were often to me an imme- 
diate disadvantage, I welcomed and thanked her 
for. I encouraged the motive which prompted 
her to offer her assistance by telling her how 
very helpful she was, and that I did not see how 
I could do without her services. If she showed 
any signs of reluctance I failed to notice them 
always, or rather I overlooked them entirely, 
showing her positively that I thought my baby 
was delighted to be of such great assistance to 
her mother. 

When my friends and visitors would tell me 
how cross, disobedient, and what a great trouble 
their children were, I immediately took advan- 
tage of this opportunity to say before Harriet 
how thoughtful and obedient she was; how she 
always put away her own toys, besides doing 
many little things to help me through the day. 
This was probably not as pleasant for the 
mothers to listen to as it was for Harriet, but I 
could not lose this opportunity of driving in the 
lesson of helpful suggestion. Perhaps the night 
before she might have betrayed a desire to be dis- 
obedient in some little things, such as going 
early to bed with an ill-grace, but always after 



14 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



I had praised her in the hearing of others, on 
that night her little arms would be around my 
neck with the assurance that she would go right 
to bed, and would not make her dear mamma any 
trouble; and then I kissed her and told her how 
bright and happy her goodness made me. She al- 
ways felt repaid then for the effort she had made, 
and went to sleep a very happy child, and I never 
placed her in her little bed without assuring her 
that she was the best of girls to make me happy 
by going to bed and to sleep without a word of 
remonstrance: that no one ever had such an obe- 
dient and thoughtful little girl^ repeating over 
the many things she had done that day that were 
good and kind, and making no reference to any- 
thing that was not so good, in fact, that savored 
of shortcoming. With arms about my neck she 
always promised to try harder to-morrow. 

It is a beautiful thing to me now to remem- 
ber that my child and I have never once, even to 
this day, separated for a night without a good- 
night kiss and the spoken wish for happy dreams 
for both. 

As her character developed I noticed a ten- 
dency towards mischievousness. I remember her 
downcast face when I caught her helping herself 
to sugar and hurrying for fear she would be 
caught. I picked her up in my arms and took her 
to my own room, where all the serious troubles of 
her small life were wont to be settled. I sat her 
down gravely before me and said; "There are 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 15 

naughty little fairies who tell little girls to do 
things which their mammas could not love them 
for doing, and there are good little fairies who 
are very sorry and know that little girls 
cannot be loved without doing as their mammas 
want them to do. You will wish to do what the 
good fairies tell you always. Then when you 
grow to be a woman the bad fairies will all leave 
because you will no longer do as they wish you 
to do. Every time that they come to you, no 
matter what they want you to do that is naughty, 
you run right to mamma and T will call the good 
fairies to help you drive away the naughty fairias 
and then we shall all be happy." The little head 
nestled closer to me and she sobbed out her sor- 
row for helping naughty fairies who did not love 
her mamma, and she promised never again to 
listen to them. 

Tn this way I tried to make her understand 
that in the conflict between right and wrong, 
even in the smaller things, her mother must be, 
and would always be, her best friend and coun- 
selor, and that she need have no secrets from her 
mother, or fear to tell her everything. It is best 
to make our children our closest friends. 



16 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 




CHAPTER TWO 

Growing 

'HEN my second child, a boy^ was 
born, it seemed as if my responsi- 
bilities purposely assumed another 
form. I had become familiar 
enough with the usual duties of a 
mother, with respect to her chil- 
dren, by this time, but my first child was very 
strong and well, whereas my little son was 
fragile and delicate in the extreme. It was 
feared that he would not live, and this fear grew 
into a horror with me, because of the thought- 
less cruelty of individuals who insisted upon what 
they thought to be the sure result of the child's 
frailty of physique. I was tortured by their ad- 
verse suggestion, as we call it now, but which, at 
that time, I had no name for, though I felt its 
full effect. However, my mother love seemed to 
be strong enough to battle with this fear, and I 
endeavored to always quiet my mind when I was 
near him, believing, even at that time, that what- 
ever I felt myself must be communicated with 
more or less strength to the little mortal, who 
was dependent upon me. It is a terrible anxiety 
to think that the little life for which we are 
responsible may be crushed out by some physical 
condition over which we seem to have no con- 
trol, and apart from the weakening suggestions 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 17 



of my friends and visitors, I found that I was 
called upon to stand in defence of the child 
against many remedies, which they prescribed or 
wished to prescribe for him. They argued the 
necessity of an attending physician, and told me 
in confidential whispers what they would do were 
they in my place. They assured me that he 
would not live long, and tried to comfort me by 
saying that it was better that he should go then, 
than that he should grow into a man, possibly to 
be a disappointment and anxiety to my heart. 
I am thankful to say, however, that their sur- 
mises were not fulfilled. The weeks passed int% 
months and the months into years, and he lived 
and grew in spite of their predictions to the con- 
trary. Is it not an astouishing thing that people 
of good sense otherwise, who show a very advan- 
tageous sympathy and kindness when their hearts 
are touched by some tale of suffering, betray so 
little sense in the presence of the sick and suff- 
ering? Is it possible that they do not realize the 
tremendous importance of the spoken word? 
Have they no understanding of the law of sug- 
gestion? Can they not see, at least, that the 
utterance of depressing comments reacts against 
them in the mind of the person to whom 
they are speaking? The most unpopular people 
in the world, to take no higher ground than this, 
are the people who are continually foreboding. 
They are so depressing that their company is 
avoided by all who have the choice, and the most 



18 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



charitable of us can do no better for them than 
shudder inwardly when they approach. 

It is just as easy, it seems to me, to scatter 
light and sunshine by a cheerful optimistic view 
of things as to increase the clouds and depression 
of those with whom we are brought in contact. 
Try as I would against it, I could never root out of 
my heart a certain resentment against those 
people, who, though perhaps with kindest intent, 
had prophesied danger and death to my son. 

The little boy, Earl, cried very much more 
than Harriet did at his age, and was of a differ- 
ent disposition. He was much more persistent 
and determined in having his own way. My 
methods of training had therefore to be re- 
adjusted to meet his disposition, and the average 
mother would say that I was unnecessarily 
severe. I had so well proved the advantage, 
however, of my method of training in Harriet's 
case that I paid very little attention to anyone's 
advice or criticism, preferring to follow "the 
light within" as my guide in this matter. 

I found that my neighbors and friends were 
bent on excusing the child, claiming that 
his usual fretfulness was due to his physical 
condition. I carefully watched him to discover 
if his crying ceased if I took him up in my arms, 
and if it began again when I put him down. I 
found that this was exactly the case, and resolved 
upon my course in consequence. 



m THE NEW THOUGHT 19 

Harriet was then only four years old. My 
training had taught her not to annoy me, and 
she could not quite understand how this small 
brother could find apparent pleasure in doing the 
things so foreign to what she had been taught 
were right. She would try to quiet him when 
he cried, telling him to be a good boy and to go 
right to sleep "so her mamma would love him." 
It was hard to make her understand that he could 
not understand her, but he soon learned to look 
to her from me, knowing that she would answer 
his appeals, and he would cry loudly until she 
appeared and sought to soothe him. % 

As the months passed his appeals grew in 
number and frequency, and he was evidently cul- 
tivating a nature selfish enough to rule over the 
better and more self-sacrifioing disposition of his 
sister, who would thus, without realizing what 
was happening, have become a servant to his 
wishes. On my watch, as I was, for anything of 
this kind, it is odd how insidiously this failing on 
his part flourished and grew. Harriet's care of 
him had its advantage to me in that it relieved 
me from the disagreeableness of correcting the 
child so frequently, and it is really a fact that I 
failed to notice for a long while what a serious 
situation was developing. When I found my 
mistake, however, I sought immediately to 
remedy it, but this I found to be a much harder 
task than I had looked for, a boy's disposition 
being naturally more selfish and stubborn than a 



20 TRAINING O F CHILDREN 

girl's. I regretted my lack of continuous scru- 
tiny of his character for faults from day to day, 
before these weeds had had time to grow so pro- 
fusely and luxuriantly in the garden of his little 

mind. 

He developed a tendency, also, to forget 
quickly, and possibly the very next day after he 
had been corrected for a fault he would be found 
doing the selfsame thing. He did not seem to 
respect my wishes as Harriet did; or, to put it 
more exactly, although he seemed to feel it 
keenly for the time being, the effect was very 
transitory. I had no guide which I could follow 
in this dilemma, and "the light within" at that 
time burned dimly for me, or at best, its radi- 
ance came by fits and starts. There seemed to 
be no steady light which I could turn to, and I 
was left to work out some method by which I 
could cultivate in him the respect which I felt 
that he must entertain for me, if he would not 
become a slave to his own selfishness. The 
many little occurrences which made up the day's 
happenings continued to reveal to me new traits 
of character in both my children, and when I 
looked among my friends for parallel cases I 
found them all too frequently, but I did not find 
them such a guide as I cared to follow. I found 
many mothers who were at a loss, like myself, 
to know which was the right way to manage a 
number of children whose dispositions differed 
each from each. 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 21 

The line of management which seemed favor- 
able to the best development of one character, 
seemingly Avorked to the disadvantage of another. 
One was whipped, another scolded and still 
another coaxed. Thrown back upon myself 
again, I sat dovv^n, as usual, to wrestle the matter 
out alone. I concluded that these two children 
were diminutive man and diminutive woman, 
with opinions and personal rights which, though 
unvoiced, called for respect, as did the opinions 
of their elders. I argued with myself that 
although their elders were able, because of their 
superior strength and wisdom of years, to demand 
and even enforce their rights^ we should be still 
more careful to protect these little men and 
women because of their inability to protect 
themselves, and by this T mean that we should 
be particularly careful to avoid humiliating 
them by such drastic treatment as whipping or 
scolding. It seemed to me that we must 
endanger their independence and respect for 
themselves when we compel them to yield their 
obedience without inviting their co-operation in 
the matter. Though I did not reason it out in 
this way, it seems to me now that the enlight- 
ened spirit of the age is altogether in favor of 
arbitration for the settlement of disputes, and 
arbitration, when it is reduced to its essential 
features, is really a method of hearing both sides 
and mutually agreeing upon a way which will 
preserve the self respect and the independence 



22 TRAININa OF CHILDREN 



of the contestants. I sought thus to act as arbi- 
trator in the case of my children between their 
better and worse selves, impressing upon them 
the wisdom or advisability of taking a certain 
course^ and inviting them to assist me in 
strengthening their better selves for their 
immediate or ultimate advantage. I endeavored 
to strengthen in them their respect for me by 
never allowing myself to treat any suggestion of 
theirs with that superiority which denies dis- 
cussion, recognizing that many of the faults 
which they exhibited were but reflections of 
faults in me which might have escaped my obser- 
vation if they had not so nearly held the mirror 
up to me. I tried to obliterate such faults in 
myself, feeling that as I made my own life better 
I was assisting my children to fashion theirs after 
a better pattern. My line of conduct was now 
clear in my mind, and I allowed nothing to move 
me from my path. 

I found and still find that love and respect 
are the greatest of controlling powers. The 
influence of a whipping or a scolding is ephem- 
eral indeed, and, apart from its effect upon the 
mother in thus inflicting pain upon her child, it 
engenders the effect of fear and rebellion in the 
mind of the young, and, worse and more deadly 
still, it engenders the loss of independence, self 
respect and strength of character. The whipped 
child says, "Just wait until I am old enough and 
I will do just as I please," and this marks the 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 23 

snapping of the sacred ties that should bind 
mother and child. 

I began to teach my children the value of 
their word of honor to me, and the necessity of 
thinking well of the consequences before they 
gave it. When they broke it, as they did, I 
exhibited the greatest disappointment, displaying 
an excess of grief for the purpose of making 
them understand the value of their agreement 
with me. I was careful, too, never to fail them 
in any agreement I made with them. I have 
heard mothers make promises to their children 
just to pacify them for the time being, and witk 
no intention of ever making good their word; 
trusting, no doubt, to the idea that the promises 
would be forgotten before they would be called 
upon to fulfill them. But the child's memory 
is tenacious, and few of the things that are 
promised him for his future satisfaction are ever 
allowed to languish for want of remembrance. 
This is breaking faith with the child and we have 
no right to expect that he will do more for us 
than we are willing to do for him. I never grew 
careless, as I have seen mothers do in this matter, 
and I have been able through my sympathy with 
my children to put myself in the place of the 
€hild whom I have heard say to her mother, 
**You promised to look through your things 
and find me some pieces of silk to make my 
doll's clothes with this afternoon, and now you 
are going out and I haven't anything to do!" 



24 TRAmiN G OF CHILDREN ^ 

The mother might have scarcely heard, or at 
least paid no attention to this claim, but she is 
planting the seed of distrust in the mind of her 
child, and this will bear bitter fruit. I venture 
to lay it down as an axiom, that no matter 
what may be the hereditary tendencies of chil- 
dren, no matter what their ancestors may have 
been or done, thought or said, the mind of a^ 
child is as a sheet of wax upon which you can 
write whatever you will. It is just as true to 
add that untaught and untrained children are of 
necessity selfish. They acknowledge no instinct 
or law but the law of self preservation. It is, 
"I for myself and the rest no where!" 

It is our duty as mothers to plant good seed 
that a harvest of grain may smother the tares. 
Carelessness is responsible for many more bad 
children than heredity. 

The tendency to vice of any kind, which is the 
utmost effect of hereditary influence, can always 
be eradicated from the child's mind by proper 
training, but let no mother suppose that her 
child, unattended and uncared for, will develop 
of itself a beautiful disposition. Weeds grow 
more easily than grain in neglected lands, I 
suppose that women will always be creatures of 
moods, but mothers owe it to their children to 
be very careful of their moods, and see that 
they do not find expression in their voices in the 
presence of their children. It is very easy to 
speak hastily and crossly to a child when we feel 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 25 



morbid or cross ourselves, but I am thankful to 
remember that J trained myself never to grow 
careless in this particular thing, no matter what 
my mental condition might be at the moment. 

I tried unfailingly to present to my children 
an outward demeanor of calm good humor. It 
was shocking to me to notice in other families 
how the careless, fretful mother was imitated in 
her language by her careless, fretful child. I 
have seen the child punished for manifesting this 
disposition, when in the very same interview I 
have traced its source in the mother's conversation. 

Having begun to train my children with the 
respect due to my equals and friends, I demanded 
the same respect from them in return. Here, 
however, I found a difference in these two chil- 
dren. Harriet seemed to desire always to please 
me, whereas Earl, while willing sometimes to 
stand well in my estimation, occasionally showed 
a carelessness for my feelings. In these instances 
I expressed the greatest astonishment that he 
should be capable of so acting, when he knew 
what I expected of him, and I w^ithdrew my 
approval or praise from him until, of his own 
accord, he tendered an apology. The apology 
was, of course, immediately accepted and the 
culprit re-established once more in confidence 
and told very plainly of the high opinion I now 
entertained of him. Moreover, every fault so 
expiated was considered baried, and was never 
referred to again. 



26 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

The plan I followed to wean Earl's higher 
and better self from the disagreeable tendencies 
which had taken root in his nature, was to refer 
to his grosser qualities as belonging to some 
other boy who could not expect to receive any 
courtesy or atteution from such a great lady as 
myself. 

Whenever he forgot to do certain little things 
for me which he could very easily do, and I must 
say that he forgot very often, I would call him 
to me and when he came I would say, ''Little 
boy, won't you please call my Earl. He is too 
much of a gentleman to allow his mamma to do 
things which he could do for her; besides he loves 
her too well." When he still hesitated, and I am 
bound to confess that he very often hesitated, I 
would ask him to go out and find my own sweet, 
little gentleman, who was always so kind to his 
mamma and sister. Earl would go away for a 
little while and then come back to me with the 
sweet assurance that the good Earl was here 
^nd ready to cheerfully perform his task. I would 
then assure him that I knew my Earl would 
never fail, and with arms about my neck he 
would promise to take better care of his mamma, 
and watch that no bad boys ever came near her 
to disobey her again. He would then renew his 
effort to be the boy that I loved and thought 
him to be. 

He was not always so easily wod, however, 
and when this bad humor took strong possession 



IN THE NEW THOUaHT 27 

of him, I found that my keenest weapon was to 
humiliate this bad boy by receiving his requests 
for attention with utter disdain. I never kissed 
the bad boy, nor did I love him, and he soon 
found that it made him much happier to be the 
other and more gentlemanly little fellow, who 
was always loved and respected. 

In the presence of visitors I was very careful 
never to send my children away, unless there 
were some private matter to be talked about. On 
the contrary, I invited them to act the part of 
friends of the family, and introduced them 
gravely as my little daughter Harriet and my^ 
son Earl, with all the respect due to grown 
people. It was very easy to teach them never to 
interrupt or break into the conversation, and 
they learned not only to be courteous to visitors 
and friends, but, and this is rare in my experi- 
ence with American youth, they refrained from 
obtruding their views and opinions upon the 
notice of their elders. 

Readers of this book may consider that I have 
glossed over the faults of my children, but I do 
not feel this to be the case; and am thankful to 
say that because of the early training of these 
dear ones, I have not known the sorrow of selfish 
and disobedient children. 



28 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



CHAPTER THREE 

Strengthening the Bonds 




DHE last chapter concluded with an 
appeal to mothers to make them- 
selves the closest and best friends 
of their children, and to make the 
child feel the full force of the 
mother sympathy. I wish to de- 
vote this third chapter of this little book more 
particularly to an appeal to mothers not to permit 
any influence, even the friendship of the girl or 
boy chum to become more precious than the 
mother's friendship. 

It is natural for the young to turn to friends 
of their own age, and to make comrades of them. 
This is a healthy, normal desire, and the com- 
panionship of boys and girls is the outcome of 
this commendable instinct. It is true enough, I 
believe, that man is a gregarious animal, and 
little men and little women are not less true to 
this common instinct. 

There are too many mothers, however, who 
have given their power over their children into 
the hands of the boy or girl chum. The danger 
of such a companion coming between the parents 
and their children may be looked for very early, 
and its presence detected even at the age of ten 
years, or younger. It is really a danger, chiefly 
because the association of the young, one with 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 29 



the other, while it is healthful and helpful so 
long as this association is guided by the mother's 
riper experience, becomes a case of the blind 
leading the blind when a child has obtained pos- 
session of authority ov^er another child. 

I am afraid that I shall stand accused of using 
my observation of the short-comings observable 
in the families of my acquaintances to point the 
moral of every chapter, and attract attention to 
my own superiority of management, I cannot 
help this if the facts are as I write them. It is 
perfectly true that among my acquaintances I 
found sufficient opportunity to study the evil% 
effects of this supremacy of the boy or girl chum 
over the influence of the mother or father. I 
found that in such cases the mother herself was 
chiefly to blame through her inability to share 
in the joys and sorrows and ambitions of her 
children. To quote one among many instances; 
I knew one mother who loved her daughter quite 
as much as I loved mine. She had given this 
child every advantage that a devoted parent 
could give, and often at the expense of her own 
comfort. Here, too, I draw a moral. It was 
borne in upon me that this mother had com- 
mitted a serious mistake in granting to the child 
such precedence over her own interests as depre- 
ciated her worth in the eyes of her daughter, 
encouraging in the latter a selfish tendency to 
demand the fulfilment of her wishes irrespective 
of the inconvenience caused. Unhappily this 



30 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

caused the child to associate her mother with 
nothing higher than the gratification of some 
selfish request or desire, and her real confidence 
and her real friendship were given to the girl 
friend with whom she spent most of her time. 
She talked over and planned her future, not with 
her mother, but with her chum, whose influence 
was more harmonious; and the self-sacrificing 
and overworked mother bemoaned the fact that 
her daughter paid so little regard to her. 

It does seem unfortunate that I must hang 
my tale upon so many mistakes made by my ac- 
quaintances in the conduct of their family affairs, 
and I should be sorry to give the impression that 
I made no mistakes myself. Indeed I made 
many. I many times fell short of my ambitions 
to present to my children a model of mother- 
hood. It is true that I have reason to be grate- 
ful for some of the mistakes, the effects of 
which I saw clearly written in the unhappiness 
of other homes. The example quoted above 
made me very cautious of outside influences 
which might separate my children from me at 
the time when they most needed my advice, and 
strengthened me in the effort to become the 
chum and the confidant of my daughter. In 
order to secure this result it was necessary for 
me to root out of her mind all fear of my ap- 
proval or criticism. When she could understand 
that whatever her confidence might be, I should 
be careful to treat it with courtesy and never to 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 31 

criticise it unkindly, she told me all her heart, 
and it greatly strengthened her frankness when I 
took her into my own confidence, and shared my 
hopes and aims with her. It was not easy for 
her to ^overcome her shyness when it came to 
disclosing the "secret of secrets;" the early ado- 
ration which she felt for a boy many years her 
senior. Our sympathy had become so quickened 
by this time that I divined that she was with- 
holding something from me, and from her man- 
ner I guessed the truth. I was rather at a loss 
how to proceed in a matter of this kind, which, 
trifling as it might appear to an adult, was bjj^ 
no means a small matter in the eyes of a girl as 
serious as my Harriet, and I knew that here, 
above all else, she would require the advice of a 
friend rather than a parent. The way shown me 
was to become myself as one of her girl friends, 
and do exactly as they would do in wresting her 
secret from her. 

While we were alone one afternoon I called 
her to me and asked if there were not some 
little secret that she had not told me. From her 
face I knew that I had divined aright, and also 
felt that it was something which she thought was 
too sacred to share, even with her mother. ^'1 
can guess what it is," I said. There was no an- 
swer. "It is about a boy^ and I know all about 
boys and girls, and how they have their little 
sweethearts; why, I believe I had one when I 
was three years old." This had the desired 



32 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



effect, and I knew that her confidence would be 
given me before she put her arms about my neck 
and bursting into tears, confessed her love for a 
boy who was so much older than she that he had 
" broken her heart, because he had considered her 
one of the little girls, and paid her no attention 
whatever." 

I soothed her as I thought her girl chum 
would have tried to soothe her, and told her that 
the affection between girl and boy was quite a 
natural thing, and I spent much time in explain- 
ing that it must not be allowed ever to gain a 
mastery over her life, or it would quite unfit her 
to appreciate its beauty and necessity in the fu- 
ture. She must be very careful, I told her, not 
to allow anything like this to become common or 
usual with her, otherwise it would lose its beauty. 
I told her that I had learned all of this for her 
benefit, so that I could sometime tell her all 
about it. In short, I quickly and successfully 
guided her through this first influence, so keenly 
felt in her young life, and she has never known 
that I saw in it a possible first beginning of the 
entrance of another's influence superior to my 
own. 

After this I knew that no matter what her 
heart might feel, she would have no secret that 
she could not tell her mother. 

On one other occasion only did I recognize 
the intrusive power of another's influence in 
her life. A number of her girl friends wished 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 33 

to attend a little party to be held at one of their 
homes, and it was arranged that Harriet should 
remain all night, returning with them to school 
in the morning. I could feel that her desire to 
go was very strong, and when my permission was 
asked, and I refused it, I noticed that the worst 
side of her nature was in arms at my refusal; 
and a stubbornness that had never before shown 
forth in her, to such a degree, took possession of 
her small being. Her great love and respect for 
me, in the building of which some years had been 
spent, was fighting against this exhibition of re- 
bellion, but the fight was a very hard and sev^e 
one. I stood quietly waiting, and said: "This is 
not the real true nature of my child. There is 
some ungovernable power here consuming every 
particle of her better and sweeter self. This is 
the first time it has dared to make its appear- 
ance. It has been brought out through the in- 
fluence of girls who do not love you, and we 
must win or lose this battle now. This struggle is 
quite enough to show you the great sorrow that 
will come into your life if you yield. My happi- 
ness as well as yours will forever be affected. You 
are only a little girl, but you have a great and 
beautiful soul to lose. I know that you will win 
in this struggle, and I shall let you fight it out 
alone while I go into the other room and wait. 
I know that you will conquer it, and I shall pray 
for strength to be given you to win this fight, 
and when you conquer you will be free of this 



34 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

feeling forever. Just as soon as you have won 
this battle with yourself, I want you to come 
immediately to me, and we will be glad together." 
I left her standing in the room very defiant, and 
seemingly quite unmanageable, and I waited 
behind the closed door for some time; then the 
door quietly opened and she ran into my arms, 
mistress of a condition which has never again 
controlled her. She would often, after this, 
hasten to me, telling me that it was coming upon 
her, but by standing firm she overcame it, and 
she is now so perfectly the mistress of her im- 
pulses and temper, that I doubt very much if she 
is even conscious of a battle. You may be sure 
that this established a deeper and more lasting 
bond of love between us, and made her feel that 
she could come to me for help in any little dis- 
turbance of mind. She felt that I understood 
and appreciated her struggles, and this was the 
last time in her life when any outside influence 
thus threatened to come between mother and 
daughter. 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 



35 



CHAPTER FOUR 



Bending Twigs 




HE tendency of all children is to 
prevaricate. For this, an anxiety 
to please is quite as likely to be 
responsible as a fear of conse- 
quences. It is so natural for a 
healthy child to desire approbation 
for its actions that we may be prepared to find 
that the most difficult lesson to implant in its 
mind is that budding sense of duty which coiw- 
pels it, of its own volition, to speak the truth 
regardless of the consequences, whether pleasant 
or the reverse. 

I found it cropping out continually in my own 
children, whose greatest delight seemed to be 
their mother's praise, and when things transpired 
which they had reason to believe their mother 
would not see fit to praise or commend, such 
things were very likely to be withheld from her. 
Child-nature to which a lie soon becomes an 
impossibility can be literally manufactured out 
of the most unpromising material, even after 
the habit of falsehood has been formed. I be- 
lieve this to be a fact because of my success 
with other children in whom the habit had grown 
to an alarming extent. I cannot say that I have 
had much difficulty in eradicating it from my 
own children. The method that I still pursued 



36 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



was that of acting as the equal of my children, 
rather than as their superior. I aimed to develop 
a sense of justice in them, to throw them back, 
as it were, upon their own dignity and growing 
sense of honesty. It was not hard after a few 
experiments to show them that there was noth- 
ing to be afraid of in telling the truth, and that 
there was no use in telling a lie to me. I man- 
aged to get the idea into their minds that I should 
always try to understand how they felt when 
the undesirable occurrence had taken place. If, 
for instance, I sent my boy Earl for cream and 
he spilled it, there was no need for him, as I 
pointed it out to him, to come to me with any 
lame story about the accident. I assured him 
that he was not to blame in the matter; that 
there was plenty more cream to be obtained, and 
how much easier, simpler and more satisfactory 
it would be to everybody if he would just tell 
me the truth! When he found that the truth 
really saved him a great deal of bother, I had 
no more trouble with him. 

I think that the deciding incident however oc- 
curred when there happened to be on one occasion 
a difference of opinion between himself and Har- 
riet at a game of checkers. I never allowed my 
children to talk angrily to each other, and they sel- 
dom ever disagreed, bat on this occasion Earl 
sprang up and cried out to me, "0, Mamma, Harriet 
has cheated me!" and burst into tears. I said very 
seriously, " Earl, what is that you say ? " and he 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 37 

repeated, " Harriet has cheated me ! She did 
not play fair ! " I said, " Come in here, both 
of you to me. Now, Harriet," I said, " Did you 
cheat your brother ? " " Why, no," she said, 
" Mamma, you know I would not do a thing like 
that. He did not understand the game and I 
beat him, that is all ! " " One of you," I said, 
" is telling me an untruth ; now who is it ? " I 
made a sign to Harriet which Earl did not see, 
and by which she understood that something 
was to be done for Earl's benefit. Then I said, 
**Earl, if Harriet has cheated you, she must be 
punished. Now," I said, "how would you like 
to have her punished ? I shall leave it to y(^i." 
The thought of Harriet possibly in tears and 
pain was too much for Earl, and he temporized 
and shuffled his feet. " Well, Mamma," he said, 
"I don't think she really meant to cheat me." 
" But," I said, ** You said she had cheated you, 
and punishment is the only thing — now, how 
shall I punish her ? " " Well, Mamma," he said, 
" I don't think she cheated, I think I told you a 
story ! " The poor little fellow's tears fell fast, 
and he was the sorriest boy that ever lived. I 
petted him because he had told the truth at last, 
and took this occasion to show him how mean it 
was to say that Harriet had done a thing which 
she had not done, and I added that I did not 
know just what I ought to do about it. It was 
strange to me that he should be able to tell me 
things which he knew were not true, and then to 
accuse a lady, and that lady his sister ! 



38 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

I put him on his dignity by pointing out to 
him how I looked to him to always be a gentle- 
man and protect his sister, and in every little 
thing that came up he must never forget that 
he must protect her; and this putting him on his 
dignity I found to be the most effective means of 
making the impression permanent. From that 
time on I never detected in him even a hesitancy 
about telling the truth. 

I cannot make the outside world understand 
the close affection which existed between these 
two children, nor is it necessary to show its 
existence other than by a passing reference. 

It happened that at one time, when Harriet 
was ten years of age and Earl about seven, an 
opportunity came to me to go to Alaska on a 
business trip. I was discussing it with friends, 
and mentioned that I could not very well go on 
account of the children. They overheard me say 
this, and also overheard me say that if it were 
not for the children I thought I should accept 
the offer and go immediately. I did not know 
that they were paying any attention to the con- 
versation, as they were amusing themselves at 
the other end of the room; but in a little while 
Harriet stole out quietly into the adjoining room 
and Earl followed her; then they closed the doors 
very quietly, and I heard them discussing the 
matter in undertones. 

Earl said: "Harriet, you know we are a lot 
of trouble to our mamma. She would be much 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 39 

liappier without us. She could go and do things 
and make lots of money if it wasn't that she has 
us to clothe and feed!" Harriet said: "Yes, it 
takes nearly everything mamma makes just to 
clothe and feed us." Earl said: "Well, Harriet, 
let you and me go into the spirit world, and we 
can be just as near our mamma as we are now, 
and she can do anything she wants to, then, and 
we can go wherever she goes, too." Harriet 
said: "Yes, mamma could hear and see us, and 
she would not have to bother looking after us." 
Then Earl said, very bravely: "Well, I wouldn't 
be afraid to go if you would take hold of wy 
hand and go with me." And Harriet said: 
"Shall we go down and jump into the river? 
That would be a good way." Earl said: "Yes, 
if you'll keep hold of my hand, Harriet, I wouldn't 
mind." I do not think that any mother could 
have restrained herself as long as I did, but that 
was all that I could bear, and I rushed in and 
gathered them to me and hugged them and tried 
to make them understand that they were every- 
thing to me; that they were all I had to live for, 
and that my idea in going was not to get rid of 
them, but to be able to get things for them 
which would make them happier. I should have 
no incentive to work, I told them, if it were not 
for them. When I had succeeded in convincing 
them that they were all the world to me, then 
they both put their arms about my neck and 
dragged me over to a chair and insisted that I 



40 TRAININa OF CHILDREN 

tell them the story of the rich uncle and the 
poor family; and if I told them this story once^ I 
must have told it to them from year to year five 
hundred times. 

Not to weary you with the story in narrative 
form, I prefer to tell it as the children them- 
selves usually managed to tell it. It ran some- 
thing in this wise: "Tell us," said Harriet, "about 
the poor family and the rich imcle." "Yes," 
said Earl, "you know, mamma, how the rich 
uncle came to the poor mother who had eight 
children, and he said he wanted to adopt one of 
them, and he would give the child everything it 
needed!" "Oh!" said Harriet, "he had money, 
and houses and lands and everything, didn't he, 
mamma?" "Yes," Earl said, "and then at night 
after he had gone, the poor parents took a candle 
and they went to look at each one of the children; 
and they looked at this one and could not let it 
go, then they looked at that one and could not 
let it go, because the father wanted one and the 
mother wanted another one, and they found they 
both wanted them all, and couldn't spare not one, 
could they ?" Then Harriet and Earl would con- 
clude rapturously together: "And you couldn't 
spare either of us, could you, mamma?" 

When Harriet was ten years old I used to try 
to develop her self-reliance by some such talk as 
this. I would say: "Harriet, you are so much 
help to mamma that she can send you anywhere 
at all and you can do just what she tells you to 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 41 

do, without a mistake. You have just as much 
ability to perform errands carefully and well as 
a grown person, and your mamma always knows 
that whatever she tells you to do will be as well 
done as if she had done it herself." Then I 
would send her to the Post Office to get a money • 
order cashed. She was so tiny that the clerks 
had to hold her up to sign it. She would go with 
the money to an office building, take the elevator 
up to the right floor, pay the rent and bring the 
change back to me in quick time. She was never 
late. I impressed upon her very strongly that 
she should always be punctual. I attribute her 
early confidence in herself chiefly to the strengtn- 
ening effect of such suggestions given her. I 
never allowed her to entertain a doubt of her 
ability to do anything that was entrusted to her. 
I said: "You can do so and so, Harriet," and she 
looked to me as one who knew to a certainty 
whether she could or not, went straight ahead 
and did it. Very much, too, may have been ac- 
complished by the strengthening suggestions 
given her at bed time, for the purpose of oblit- 
erating the effect of any failures during the day, 
which were to the effect that to-morrow she 
would do well, and just as I wished her to do. 

With Earl, tears and smiles came almost to- 
gether. He cried very easily and smiled as easily 
through his tears. It was not very hard to break 
him of this habit. In fact, I think he broke 
himself of it. All I did for him was to insist that 
before he came to me to tell me any story when 



42 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

his voice was choked with sobs and he was excited, 
he should get calm first; get over it, stop crying 
and then talk. After he had done this a few 
times, he began to get over it much more quickly. 
It had a quick and magical effect. Then I caught 
him saying to himself when he was hurt, "Wait, it 
is not time to cry yet; wait!" This would postpone 
the tears indefinitely. When he was about seven 
he took the role upon himself of comforter to 
Harriet. If anything occurred to vex her he 
would say, "Don't cry, wait a little while!" He 
must have heard somewhere something of the 
idea of the independent intelligence existing be- 
tween the central nervous system and the extrem- 
ities, because I overheard him say once: "Har- 
riet, when you hurt your finger it telegraphs up 
to your head to start up steam to get ready to 
cry. It says: *I am hurt down here;' then the 
engine goes to work and begins to pump tears!" 
Anything that had an engine in it appealed to 
Earl very strongly. After he had assumed the 
task of breaking Harriet from crying, he con- 
cluded that he was bound to prove his theory and 
stick to it, and he maintained himself nobly. I 
have seen him hurt his finger and say in the most 
approved modern mental science style: "This 
finger don't hurt. Why," he would say, "it don't 
hurt at all. It cannot hurt unless I let it!" and 
this line of denial of sensation, which is familiar 
enough to Christian Scientists, came to him, I 
am bound to say, intuitively. He practices it to 
this day with the very greatest success. 




IN THE NEW THOUGHT 43 

CHAPTER FIVE 

Asserting the Self 

f T may be supposed that of my two 
children the one who would most 
readily grasp and apply the truths 
of New Thought would be the girl, 
but the reverse was the case. It 
was Harriet who listened very 
courteously to my exhortations on the subject 
and who promised to make certain affirmations 
for her own betterment. I could see howev^' 
that she made her statements chiefly to please 
me, and that the fundamental truth of " assump- 
tion" found no lodgment in her mind, and did 
not appeal to her imagination. For example, 
when she had a pain in her back and I besought 
her to say that the pain was going away and that 
it would not hurt her, and finally that it had 
gone, she replied, " Yes, but it does hurt ! " It 
was f ally two years before she found any pleasure 
in working with herself in this way, and bringing 
her will to bear upon any physical condition 
which affected her. I have heard others adopt 
exactly the same line of argument which Harriet 
adopted in this matter, even taking the position 
that they were guilty of deceit in averring that a 
pain, of which they were conscious, had disap- 
peared at their suggestion. They have accused 
me of sophistry, and I confess have made a very 



44 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

good fight on the argument. But, it ought to be 
evident to any one who will reason a moment that 
this denial of pain having in itself the, provably 
true effect of suppressing the pain, must of 
necessity be the truth, while the admitting of the 
pain is only a statement of what is at that 
moment true because of the passive mental atti- 
tude which entertains the thought sensation. 

I do not wish to be ambiguous here or to 
split straws in controversy. My argument with 
Harriet would take the following line. I would 
say, " My dear, I know that the pain is there at 
this moment, but I want you to say that the 
pain is gone and tell yourself strongly and forci- 
bly that the pain has gone, because then you will 
be putting yourself in the position of coutrolling 
the pain and causing it to disappear. You will 
really be calling out in yourself the power which 
is latent in you to control the unpleasant sensa- 
tion. It is quite true that the pain is there, as 
you say, bat if you will consistently work with 
yourself, and maintain that the pain is not there, 
then you will not allow it to be there ; then you 
will be asserting your own sovereignty, and the 
pain will actually depart. Your brain will have 
performed the very simple function of interrupt- 
ing the current of sensation from the nerve to 
the brain. After this interruption has taken 
place and you are no longer conscious of the 
pain, then the inflammation consequent upon the 
sensation of pain will subside and in place of the 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 45 

affected part making an outcry to the brain, and 
consuming much needed energy in thus making 
its complaint known, the nervous force of your 
body will, instead, center itself upon the part 
and the work of healing from the center to the 
part affected will begin immediately to take 
place." 

This, it seems to me, is the philosophy of 
mental healing in a nutshell; avoiding the ob- 
scure philosophy of the divine scientists. 

It was about this time that my daughter 
Harriet injured her spine very seriously and com- 
plained frequently during the day of the pain ^t 
was causing her. This was entirely a physical 
injury, and since physicians could do nothing to 
help her, it was left to her and to me to assist 
nature in repairing the injury by mental sugges- 
tion. I felt that this could best be done by her- 
self by awakening in her the mental power to 
govern this condition of her physical self. But 
it was extremely hard to get her to see the logic 
of self -treatment. She would agree with me in 
the very sweetest way, and would say many things 
to please me, but it was quite evident that her 
heart was not in it. Perhaps a keen sense of 
humor may have had much to do with her reluc- 
tance to follow a line of self-suggestion which 
seemed to her rather ridiculous. At any rate I 
have this fact to build upon, that it was not 
until she was seriously interested in her treat- 
ment, and had begun to make her affirmations of 



46 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



health and strength with energy and determina- 
tion, that her back began to get better. From 
the time she put her heart in the work she be- 
gan to mend, and this was so noticeable to her, 
as well as to us^ that it gave her courage to con- 
tinue. The injury has been entirely repaired, 
and she does not know what a day's ill-health 
means. 

There was no such difficulty in the case of 
Earl. It is a boy's nature, I suppose, to experi- 
ment, and it seemed as if his imagination, always 
keen and alert, reveled in the possibilities of his 
power over himself and over circumstances. He 
became a persistent * 'holder of the thought." If 
he wanted a thing, even if it was nothing but a 
pocket knife, Jie thought for it, and when he got 
it he would come to me and say in the most mat- 
ter-of-fact tone; "Well, you see, mamma, I 
thought for that knife because I wanted it, and I 
knew I would get it, and here it is!" I think he 
was what we would call to-day a successful oper- 
ator, because he developed an absolute confidence 
in himself along this line, and no ray of doubt 
ever entered his mind that anything would in- 
terfere with the operation of the law. I wonder 
how much of the ill-success of men is owing to 
the fact that they doubt? Doubt is ever their 
stumbling block; doubt and distrust of the self. 
To those who have grown faint and disheartened 
because of their frequent failures to achieve ends 
long thought for and desired, I would say; "Hold 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 47 



the thought still, and in the face of delay and dis- 
appointment still hold the thought strong ! Make 
the demand for what you want; make it without 
fear and without doubt, and it must by the law 
of cause and effect fall into your hands!" 

There was a boy at Earl's school who intend- 
ed to inform the Principal of something which 
Earl had done. He had broken the rules, and 
this boy had a grudge against him, and intended 
to "get even" in this way. Earl came to me and 
told me about it, saying: "Now, mamma, I know 
this boy is going to tell the Principal to-day; 
what shall I do about it?" I said to him: "You 
have broken the rules, and you must stand your 
punishment, whatever it is. But are you going to 
let that boy tell the Principal ? Are you going to 
let him do it ? He cannot tell the Principal unless 
you allow him to." Earl thought this over, then 
he straightened up and his eyes flashed, and he 
said: "Why, I had forgotten about that — I won't 
let him tell. I won't let him tell the Principal, 
because / will tJiink that he canHI" I did not see 
him until he came home from school trium- 
phant. "Well," he said, as soon as he got into 
the house, "the boy did not tell because I would 
not let him. I thought to myself all the time, 
'You cannot do this^ because I will not let you.' " 
I give this example for what it is worth, not be- 
cause I mean to imply that the ethics in the case 
are very high, nor because I wish it to be thought 
that this is to me a conclusive evidence of the 



48 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

absolute power of holding the thought, but in 
oi^der that you may understand from it how 
strong a hold New Thought had taken of this 
boy's mind, and how he applied the principles of 
this philosophy to his immediate personal advan- 
tage. All boys enjoy the consciousness of power, 
and this self-confidence can be developed in the 
boy-nature to such an extent that he rises supe- 
rior to what would seem to be insurmountable 
difficulties. Such a training cannot fail to be 
beneficial as a basis for character-building when 
that character is later called upon to meet the 
difficulties which test its strength in the outside 
world. 




IN THE NEW THOUGHT 49 

CHAPTER SIX 

The Universal Mother 

'E are apt to be selfish in our love for 
our children ; apt to think them 
exclusively deserving of the high- 
est regard in comparison with the 
claims of other children upon our 
hearts. It was left to a small boy, 
one of Earl's acquaintances, to teach me a much 
needed lesson. 

It should be understood by every mother ths^Ji 
in his companionship with other boys her son is 
quite certain to hear and possibly discuss things 
which are not considered proper for conversation 
among p.dults. 

I had taken the ground in discussing this 
possibility with my children that the harm in 
such discussions lay not in the things themselves, 
but in the manner in which they were spoken of. 
It was not difficult for them to understand that 
there were some lines of conversation to which 
they could not give ear, and retain their self re- 
spect ; and this frank discussion of the matter 
with them, I think, was responsible for a shrink- 
ing on their part from the familiar allusions to 
such subjects by their companions. If boys 
talked, as boys will, upon these matters in his 
hearing Earl would walk away. 

On a certain day in summer he was talking to 



UUj T ^'l y^li^iT^^MF jr"'"'^'^ 



50 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



a boy acquaintance standing outside the French 
windows of my room, which opened to the ground 
and were swung wide. Earl's acquaintance was 
saying to him things which, considering the man- 
ner in which they were said, were decidedly 
shocking, and I immediately called Earl in to 
me. He came in looking rather shame-faced, 
and I said very severely, " Earl, don't you know 
that that boy was saying things to you which 
you should not hear ? " 

Earl is a very manly little fellow, and in his 
anxiety not to earn the nick-name of "mamma's 
pet " among his boy companions, he was apt to 
avoid pushing himself into an attitude of con- 
demnation of them in any way, and to a certain 
extent I encouraged this in him, because under 
no circumstances would I have him grow up with 
any feeling in his heart of aloofness from boys of 
his own age, or of criticism of the boy nature and 
its blunt method of expressing the things revealed 
to it. He was always quick to notice, too, how 
anxious I was to strengthen him in this inde- 
pendence of decision in all matters affecting his 
character, and I was therefore not surprised when 
he answered, "Well, mamma, you know boys will 
talk about these things, and I don't know that it 
does me any harm." " No, sweetheart," I said, 
" perhaps it does you no harm, but you have been 
taught better than to listen to them. That boy 
is not a fit companion for you. He has no right 
to say things like that to you, and you have no 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 51 



right for your own sake to listen to what he says. 
You could have walked away from him, but you 
did not. Now, I forbid you to play with him any 
more. You must go to him and tell him that I 
forbid your speaking to him." 

Earl went away very reluctantly to his com- 
panion, who, I discovered, had been listening 
acutely to what I had been saying, peering in at 
the open windows. Earl went to him and said 
gruffly that his mamma would not let him play 
any more, and he must go in. Then I heard the 
little boy say very earnestly, " Earl, can't I speak 
to your mamma just a moment ? Do you think 
that she would let me talk to her and tell her that 
it is not my fault ? " I called to him to come in 
and talk to me, and he came in and told me very 
earnestly, with tears in his eyes, that he had 
never heard any one speak to a boy as I spoke to 
Earl ; that he did not have any mother to tell 
him what was right and what was wrong, and if 
I would let him play with Earl and come and talk 
to me sometimes, he would promise never to say 
anything on this subject again, and would try to be 
a much better boy. Then I took him in my arms 
and told him that he had shown me how narrow 
and wrong I was in this matter. He had taught 
me a lesson which I had never learned before, 
which was that I was just as much his mother as 
I was Earl's mother, and that from this time on 
he was to feel that he was just as much my son 
as Earl was, and he was to come to me whenever 
he wanted to tell me all that was in his heart. 



52 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

This little incident served to touch a chord in 
my heart, which has never since ceased to vibrate. 
I can only call it the awakening of the universal 
mother love. It seems to me now that all chil- 
dren, the world over, are my children, and not 
mine alone, but they are just as surely the chil- 
dren of every woman grown. It is our duty, I see 
clearly, to recognize the fact that while our own 
children are so placed in our care that they of 
necessity receive more attention than we can be- 
stow upon the children of others, yet whenever 
the opportunity to reach these other children 
presents itself to us we are recreant to our 
duties as mothers, unless we take them also into 
our hearts to just the same degree as our own 
children. 

It is well enough to believe that your children 
owe much to you. They do. But how much we 
owe to them ! They draw forth in us the ex- 
pression of those qualities in which the soul finds 
its most abiding peace and happiness. Without 
them we are left to become narrow and self-cen- 
tered, lacking in hearty sympathy with others, 
and therefore liable to become dwarfed and im- 
potent in doing good as the years go on. Our 
children help us to grow mentally and spiritually 
better, and the greater our love for all the chil- 
dren who come within our radius, assuredly the 
greater will be our growth and happiness. 

Earl is a boy who will bear a great deal of 
oppression from other boys without complaining. 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 53 

but he is not a "milk-sop." He is a slight, deli- 
cate looking boy, with a great big heart in him, 
and a great big affection for a very few people. 
I must not leave the impression in your minds 
that my training has made him effeminate. 

I do not approve of quarreling, but I would 
have my child able to defend himself either as 
boy or man against injustice at the hands of 
others. He came to me once with a story of how 
a bigger boy was constantly calling him names 
and holding him up to ridicule, and asked me 
what he should do about it. I said, " Why, 
sweetheart, take no notice. Do not pay anji at- 
tention to him, and when he sees that you do not 
care he will cease to torment you ! " Matters 
went on thus for perhaps two weeks, during which 
time Earl remarked on several occasions that the 
boy was still tormenting him without any rea- 
son and was making a "guy" of him before 
the other boys. He said that he would not be 
able to stand it very much longer, but I advised 
him to do nothing but wait, and the matter 
would adjust itself. Thiugs reached a crisis, 
however, and he came to me one day with a tale 
of this boy who v/as older and very much bigger 
than he was, and in which the provocation was 
certainly more than any boy could be expected 
to stand equably. I asked Earl what he had 
done, and he said^ " Why, I did not do anything. 
You told me to pay no attention and I tried not 
to, but it's pretty hard to have the other boys 



54 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

think that I am afraid." " Well," I said, "sweet- 
heart, you have done quite right in obeying me, 
and this was just as much a test of strength on 
your part as if you had quarreled with the boy ; 
but now," I said, "he is imposing upon you, and 
the time has come for you to take your own part. 
Now, when you act. Earl, I want you to do a 
thing thoroughly. As this boy is continuing to 
torment you, you must thrash him. He is big- 
ger than you are, but that makes no difference. 
You must thrash him, and then you will find 
that he will not make the mistake again of in- 
sulting you before the other boys." 

The thing was settled the next day, and lest 
it should be thought that I gloat over my son's 
prowess in a very undesirable branch of athletics, 
it may be briefly stated that the result was quite 
satisfactory to Earl, and that his opponent never 
again made the mistake of selecting Earl as a 
victim. 

The spirit of New Thought is assuredly the 
spirit of non-resistance to evil, and although some- 
thing can be said on the other side, I believe for 
adults that non-resistance is ever the better policy. 
To repay hate with love is indeed a check-mate to 
hate, and sometimes is the means of evoking love 
where hate has reigned before. This is almost 
too much however for the boy-mind to properly 
assimilate. I should prefer in my own children 
that they rather attempt to bring about an end 
of injustice by force than that they resign them- 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 55 



selves to endurance of oppression. Let us en- 
deavor to form in them a strenuous spirit and 
energy feeling well assured that upon this found- 
ation a mature wisdom will build a philosophy 
in which force of arms is unnecessary and short- 
sighted as a policy. But we cannot quite expect 
the unformed character of the boy to immedi- 
ately assimilate all the principles of the profound 
Philosophy of the New Thought, and I believe in 
one step at a time. 




56 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

CHAPTER SEVEN 

The Fruit of Philosophy 

HE Theatre has been roundly abused 
by all sorts and conditions of peo- 
ple as an influence for evil, but I 
know of nothing which so forcibly 
takes hold of the attention of the 
developing child as a strong moral 
drama well presented upon the stage. It was 
part of the training of my children to send them 
whenever possible to the matinee performances 
at the theatre. What they saw there took strong- 
est hold of their minds, and even when "problem" 
plays were presented I did not see fit to withhold 
my consent to their going, more especially as we 
discussed the plots and situations very thoroughly 
when they returned. To me ignorance and vice 
are practically synonymous, and it has always 
been my wish to hide nothing from my children, 
feeling that if they are forewarned they are cer- 
tainly forearmed. 

Harriet made the acquaintance, while at 
school, of some girls who Avere not in any sense 
of the word fit companions for her, but the very 
frankness which I had sought to cultivate in her 
led her to discuss their ideas with me, and it wa& 
not difficult for me to show her that my ideal of 
the true woman was one who would bring forth 
the best in men and boys, and not the worst. 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 57 

Her aim should be, I told her, to have boys say, 
always, that they were better for having known 
her, because they never ceased to respect a girl 
of this kind, and her influence would increase 
with the passing of time. 

She fell so much into my way of thinking, 
that although girls of her age were submitting 
themselves to tight lacing for the attaining of 
small waists, she readily agreed with me that 
it was much better for her to have good health 
and a natural individual type of girlishness than 
to follow in this respect the bad example of her 
elders. She is extremely proud now of the fg-ct 
that she did not follow the girlish vanity which 
conduces to the cramping of the human figure. 

The New Thought appealed to Harriet as 
something new in its broadening ideas concern- 
ing life and death. She liked this phase of it 
even better than the practical application of self- 
assertion. Its philosophy took hold upon her, 
and showed her that there was more in her life 
than entered that of the average girl. It taught 
her that a beautiful character was more to be 
desired than the acquirement of all those things 
which her companions seemed most to live for ; 
and it taught her also that true physical beauty 
has its germ in mental harmony. 

We spent happy evenings together in which 
we discussed the beauty of looking beyond selfish 
satisfaction for that inward happiness which 
comes from communion with high ideals. I 



58 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



taught her to hold nothing but pleasant thoughts 
in her mind ; never to be angry ; always to offer 
to every one the same serenity, no matter what 
they did to her or how they tried to annoy her. 
Soon she reached a point at which she could not 
feel annoyance. There seems to be no dark side 
to her nature. Today she avoids gossip, having 
been taught that she must pass by the faults of 
her friends in silence : that if she can find noth- 
ing good in them she is not to speak of them 
at all. 

Really this training brought with it its own 
reward for Harriet ; because it made her very 
popular at school. Every one seemed to love 
her ; her teachers praised her, and her girl com- 
panions looked up to her as a sort of guide. The 
girls loved her aud each seemed to want her for 
her special friend, but she avoided close intim- 
acies of this kind. 

Harriet's idea of God is of an infinite spirit 
manifesting through each one of us His own 
perfect goodness. She recognizes that the king- 
dom of heaven is within us, and that by first 
entering into this kingdom, we thereby enter 
into our rightful inheritance — a something of 
peace and gladness that is within the grasp of 
every human being. I do not mean that she 
practices entering into the silence for so many 
minutes each day, or anything of that kind ; but 
that she is now actually living the New Thought 
from day to day. She is serenely happy. Even her 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 59 



grief has a rainbow at the back of it. She can 
find beauty in the most dreary and impossible 
things. She sees the sweet side of everything 
and it is a momentous fact that there is invari- 
ably a sweet side if we have trained ourselves to 
find it. 

I often tell Harriet that she is a far better 
example of New Thought training than her 
mother, because she acts as a comforter to me 
sometimes in the face of difficulties that pull me 
down. I used to say on these occasions, " Your 
mother is a poor general today ; she has lost 
heart ! " And Harriet would reply, " Yes, mamm%, 
but you have taught us how useless it is to cross 
bridges before we come to them ! " She never 
worries or anticipates trouble of any kind. 

So far as her practice of New Thought goes 
she has not as much faith in herself as she has 
in me in "holding the thought." She thinks 
that if I hold the thought for her she will obtain 
her desire more quickly than if she acts for her- 
self. In this I tried to show her that she was 
wrong. 

Harriet's nightly appendix to her prayer is so 
beautiful that I think it should be inserted here. 
After the "Now, I lay me down to sleep," etc., 
which she has said from the time she was a 
baby, she adds: "Mamma, may my life be 
spared that I may always be near you to help 
you and comfort you ! " Then she gets up and 
puts her arms about my neck and wishes me 
pleasant dreams. 



60 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

Have I not the right to be proud that I am 
the mother of this beautiful young soul ? And 
yet, it does not seem to me that she belongs to 
me in that sense of proprietorship which parents 
usually entertain for their children ; rather, she 
is like some rare spirit whom I am permitted for 
a time to instruct before she goes on her way to 
higher things, leaving with me a memory too pure 
and bright to have much of sadness in it. 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 61 




CHAPTER EIGHT 

Death and After 

NE year in the life of my children 
which has since seemed to me to be 
in the nature of a benediction to our 
companionship was spent in a little 
white cottage perched upon the 
brow of a hill overlooking a seven 
mile stretch of bay upon which, every evening, 
two thousand little fishing smacks spread their 
white sails. It was a year fruitful of results to 
all of us, and we used to spend evening aftdt 
evening on the cottage verandah watching the 
white sails change to the coloring of the magnifi- 
cent sunsets of the Pacific coast. The little fish- 
ing village at the foot of the hill was a busy point 
during the salmon season. 

It was here that my children drank deep of 
the fresh pure air and of the freedom of which 
they had been deprived in the city, and the 
beauty and quiet of nature harmonized . their 
minds to the acceptance of the truths which I 
was inspired to give them at this time. 

Harriet and Earl sometimes made engage- 
ments with the boys and girls of their acquaint- 
ance to attend some amusement or game, and 
found, upon arriving at the appointed time, that 
the promises so given had been forgotten and the 
engagements postponed. This might have dis- 



62 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

couraged them in their efforts to invariably keep 
their promises, if I had not seen fit to discuss the 
matter thoroughly with them. 

Earl even went so far as to declare that since 
other people did not keep their words he could 
not see why he should. It was my habit, how- 
ever, to take up things of this kind with them on 
Sunday morning, and in place of a sermon from 
the local clergyman we made of our cottage a 
church. I explained to them the necessity of 
exact truth and punctuality on their part, at 
home, at school, and in business, irrespective of 
whether other people showed them the same 
truthfulness and punctuality or not. I tried to 
make them understand that they had been given 
certain knowledge which was withheld from 
other children, and because of that knowledge 
they must teach, by their example, the true 
meaning of the word honor. I told them that it 
was not the praise of others which would be their 
reward, but that the consciousness of having done 
their duty would be all-sufficient for them ; that 
they would find, when I was no longer with them 
to point it out, that when their consciences said, 
"well done," it was enough; but in addition to 
this satisfaction, I said, there will always be, as 
you grow up, a certain material reward which 
follows work well done. Their acquaintances, or 
employers it might be, would notice the thor- 
oughness with which they did everything that 
came to their hands, and this notice would result 



m THE NEW THOUGHT 63 



in the stamping of both of my children as people 
to be trusted. "The heart of the world," I said, 
"goes out to those upon whom dependence can 
be placed. The life of the business world is 
faith, but it is called 'credit' in business. The 
strongest basis, and in fact the only basis, for 
credit is character." With character, I told them, 
they would have at their disposal any money 
which they might need in business undertakings, 
and although in such talks as this I did not ex- 
pect to interest Harriet as much as Earl, she 
never failed to grasp the worth and importance 
of character as a force. 

We talked often of death and immortally, 
and to their minds death has become a very 
little step to take to something infinitely larger, 
fuller and grander than this life. Death, I 
assured them, is but a door. We had a constant 
reminder of how oppositely death is regarded by 
others in the example of one of our neighbors, who 
had a garden of beautiful flowers. These flowers 
would have made glad the heart of many sick 
and well people, but not one was given away 
until the announcement of a death in the com- 
munity brought forth an offering of an abundance 
of blooms and blossoms. It seemed very sad to 
Earl that these flowers should be given to the 
dead. If he heard the snip of the scissors at 
work in the garden he observed that there would 
be a funeral next day ; so invariably were these 
offerings made. 

There was a little boy near by whose life had 



64 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



been very miserable, and whom Earl had tried to 
help in many ways by giving of his books and toys. 
The boy died, and the snip of the scissors was 
heard next door. Earl came to me and asked 
why they should give the boy flowers when he 
was dead, seeing that they never gave him any- 
thing when he was alive. 

I made this the substance of one of my Sun- 
day morning talks to the children, and tried to 
make plain to them the difference in the religious 
belief of ourselves and of those who held death 
to be the shutting off of life and interest in life. 
As the preparations for the funeral were complete 
and the time came for the procession to form, I 
asked Earl if he wanted to go, and he replied, 
"No, I do not feel sorry as the others do who 
are now following him around with flowers. 
They look as if they are trying to make up for 
the things they did not do for him when he was 
here. I have nothing left to give him that I did 
not share when he was here." 

The question of death and the hereafter, 
though by no means a cheerful subject to the 
majority of people, should, I think, have the sting 
taken out of it in the training of children. They 
are so susceptible to impressions of grief and sor- 
row, and their minds, plastic as clay, so readily 
assimilate the ideas of hope and encouragement 
that if it were left to me to order public observ- 
ance of such customs as funerals I would abolish 
all hearses. I would turn the black plumed 
horses out to grass, or give them some other labor 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 65 

to perform, more in keeping with what should 
be an expression of trust in the creator of this 
universe. The pall upon the coffin ; the line of 
solemn-faced bearers ; that astounding paradox, 
the hired mute ; the long procession of slow- 
promenading carriages ; the gloom and desola- 
tion of all this can produce only ill-effects upon 
the minds of either the young or the adult. 

Is not all grief selfish, knowing what we do 
of the soul's immortality and of the assured life 
beyond, so much grander in its possibilities ? Ac- 
cepting, as we do, the promise that " not a spar- 
row falleth" what right have we, if we csill 
ourselves reasonable human beings, to make of a 
funeral such a pageantry of sombreness ? Let us 
teach our children to love and trust the Guiding 
Hand, and when it shall please Him to guide us 
to other scenes where our work will continue, 
let no one mourn our absence. 

If I should die to-morrow I would have my 
children glad that I was happy ; not sorrowful, 
nor even tearful, but glad in my gladness. 

Is it not wrong, this gloom and wretchedness 
at death ? I have tried to make my children 
see that death is but the gate which we open to 
enter the pleasant fields beyond, and in the com- 
munion that has been permitted me with those 
who have already passed over I have been as- 
sured that the next life is but a counterpart of 
this, carrying with it, however, possibilities of 
development, of happiness and of love, which 
are curtailed or withheld in this existence. 



66 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

CHAPTER NINE 

The Magnetism of Character 




^ HERE is a quality in human beings 
which has been held to be indefin- 
able. Even while its existence was 
admitted and its effects noticed^ it 
has been considered to be a some- 
thing which defied analysis ; some- 
thing which was not resolvable into the elements 
of which it is composed. I allude to that which 
is known as Personal Magnetism. It is certainly 
a good thing to possess, because those who have 
it wield a remarkable influence over others. 
Perhaps we recognize it most readily by its effects, 
even though we cannot understand what it is 
that produces these effects. We find that some 
people are sought out, honored and consulted 
while others as imposing in appearance, voice or 
manner are passed over. There was a time when 
I had almost concluded that this magnetism was 
simply an evidence of will power in the person 
exercising it. With full experience, however, 
my opinion on this point changed, and I am 
now fully of the belief that personal magnetism 
is another word for the outshining of character. 
This thought has often come into my mind from 
watching the influence which both of my chil- 
dren exhibit upon boys and girls of their own 
age and even older people. It is not that my 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 67 



children are self-assertive ; no one could call 
them that, Harriet being even less so than Earl. 
The effect is not due to self-assertion at all, 
although I admit that self-assertion occupies a 
large part of the New Thought Philosophy. But 
I think there is something better to be got out 
of New Thought than even this result-bringing 
assertion which accepts no obstacle as being in- 
superable. There is something better than this ; 
it is that quiet trust in oneself which renders 
self-assertion unnecessary, which takes the place 
of self-assertion and leaves no room for it in the 
affairs of one possessing the quality of self-CDn- 
fidence. 

To one who has been trained upon the lines 
laid down in this book there is a consciousness 
of passivity which is by no means inactivity. 
The energy is at its highest and the activity is 
ever increasing, but within — within, at the source 
of the power — ^there is rest ; freedom from anxi- 
ety, and activity without exercise of the will. 

The man or woman in whom is developed 
this supreme trust may be and often is quite 
careless of results, and yet it will appear that 
such people achieve success in all that they 
undertake, while the most careful and conscien- 
tious planning exercised by the individual with 
any quantity of will-force thrown in is barren 
of results, or a failure. It seems to me that when 
this quality of life in harmony with the divine law, 
which is the basis of the character which I have 



68 TRAINma OF CHILDREN 

been seeking to lay before you, has been devel- 
oped, there comes with it that peculiar influence 
upon other people for which we can find no other 
term than Personal Magnetism. 

To explain my theory more fully T must say 
something here which may not, at first, find many 
friends among New Thought believers. 

I do not think that New Thought people 
clearly understand what is meant by effort. To 
most of you " effort " means " I can and T will." 
To me " effort " means exactly the opposite ; 
that is to say, repose. The nerves and muscles 
of a New Thought devotee are keyed to a high 
tension to perform his task and to crown his 
effort with success. My success has always come 
to me when nerves and muscles were relaxed. 
The New Thought devotee goes out into the 
world to look for things. My policy after mature 
experience has been to let things come to me. 
It is a strange fact that if the law is clearly 
observed, the law of concentration, we seem to be 
sought instead of seeking. But it is only too true 
that wherever there is impatience or anxiety 
there can be no satisfactory result in following 
my method. 

One of the important observances of those 
who exert a magnetic influence upon their fol- 
lowers is silence, a habit of speaking but little. 
Another is absence of curiosity concerning other 
people's affairs. And another is a keen under- 
standing of the rights of others with regard to 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 69 

their freedom as individuals and their right to 
follow their own inclinations without criticism 
or interference on our part. 

The tendency to criticise others is so common, 
and was so marked in my children, that I had a 
motto displayed upon the wall in a wooden frame. 
The motto consisted of four letters in large capi- 
tals, *'M. Y. 0. B." which, being interpreted, 
means " Mind Your Own Business." Perhaps this 
was the hardest part of their training, and I don't 
know how often I was compelled to raise my 
eyes inquiringly to the motto on the wall when 
their conversation encroached, as I thought, uj^on 
the rights of other people. In the course of a 
few months, however, even this warning glance 
at the lesson on the wall was unnecessary, and 
today they understand that others are entitled to 
the same freedom of opinion and expression 
which they claim for themselves. 

There has been bred in them no lack of in- 
terest in their companions, but a lack of officious 
curiosity or desire to impose their will or dicta- 
tion upon their companions. In the light of 
this fact my theory of the working of the law has 
been proved to be correct, because without effort 
on their part to pose as dictators they are ac- 
cepted as leaders in their respective circles. 

Am I not right then in saying that there is a 
passivity which is repose, which carries with 
it the potential qualities of the keenest activity? 
It is not very easy to make words, plastic and 



70 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



adaptable as they are, convey exactly one's mean- 
ing^ especially in discussing a question as involved 
as this psychological problem of the elemental 
factors of personal magnetism ; I must reiterate 
therefore, that to me, personal magnetism is 
simply a reflection from sterling character, and 
it has been aptly defined in the " Course in Per- 
sonal Magnetism," published by the Psychic Re- 
search Company of Chicago, in the following 
sentence : ''Personal Magnetism is that quality 
in man which attracts the interest, friendship and 
love of mankind." Putting the matter in a nut 
shell the essence of that course of instruction is 
that Personal Magnetism is the quality resultant 
from repressed desires. I cannot agree with the 
author of this able treatise in his conclusion, 
because, to me, a repression of desires which are 
natural and right is a stunting of growth ; never- 
theless I recommend the course to the attention 
of my readers as having in it many points of 
excellent expression. 

I hope that what I have said in this chapter 
will not deter the ambitious youth from setting 
a high mark of attainment. It is right that he 
should push on ; it is right that he should try his 
best to succeed. There is value in effort of any 
kind ; and even the aggressive self-assertion of 
the most ardent New Thought disciple is better 
than no effort at all. But my philosophy of 
life, as I have proved it to be true, is briefly that 
there is a higher power which orders our des- 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 71 



tinies, and that it is our duty to get in harmony 
and in touch with this Intelligence at every 
moment of our lives, so that we may turn unerr- 
ingly to it for guidance and instruction in aU 
momentous affairs. When we are in such har- 
mony with this divine purpose that our souls re- 
flect back some of its light and happiness then 
we become fit instrumeuts to hear clearly the 
voice within. In other words, our doubts and 
perplexities will be removed in proportion to the 
clearness with which we hear the voice speak- 
ing from within. Compared with this divine 
power how simple and futile must our persqjial 
efforts appear ! Of what use is it for us to butt 
our heads against a wall when a voice distinctly 
tells us to go around the obstacle. Those who 
have come into the fullest understanding of 
this spiritual hearing seem to me to be the 
least anxious to assert themselves. They refer 
all matters connected with their lives, social, 
religious or financial, to this divine counselor 
and seem very well content to accept its dic- 
tates. To these people is given the trust I 
speak of in the early part of this chapter ; that 
supreme self-confident passivity, most potent to 
perform great labor, most resourceful in all 
activity of brain and physical function, most 
influential in impressing others, most unassum- 
ing, most truthful, and most complete. 

Thus to me sterling worth of character is the 
elemental quality of which personal magnetism 
is the effect. 




72 TEAININO OF CHILDREN 

CHAPTER TEN 

The Application of a Truth 

'E must be very careful in dealing^ 
with children not to misjudge them. 
It is all too easy to fall into the 
error of confounding a sensitive 
silence with stubbornness. Even 
the most sympathetic mother may 
make this mistake in trying to fathom that won- 
derful thing — the heart of a child ! So sweet, 
so wayward, so gentle, so cruel — who shall 
guard us against our own errors in interpreting 
the emotions of a thing so complex ? 

I like best to teach by illustration, and the 
following account of an experience related to m& 
some years ago by the person most concerned 
carries with it such an evident proof of the pow- 
ers of suggestion in the life of a child that it 
needs no elaboration on my part. Knowing that 
I was interested in all New Thought teaching 
the father in this story came one day to see me, 
"to talk things over," as he said. It is always 
helpful to compare notes with others interested 
along this line, and I recommend you to indulge 
yourselves in this practice whenever opportunity 
offers. I was therefore glad to see him. He 
plunged at once into the middle of his subject. 
He was a middle-aged man, well-dressed, well- 
kept, apparently, and a business-man to his 
finger tips. 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 73 

*'Now," he said, "I don't look like a crank, 
do I ? You wouldn't pick me out of a crowd as 
being anything but what I look, a plain, every- 
day man of business, would you ? " 

I assured him he might set his mind at rest 
on that score. 

"Well, I thought T would ask you point 
blank," he said, "because something has hap- 
pened in our family which I call a miracle ! No, 
I won't say that either. I mean that the effects 
seem miraculous. That's the same thing with a 
difference. Now, let me tell you about it. Per- 
haps it will be an old story to you, but I tell you i^'s 
made a difference in our home — a big difference ! 
We have an only child, a little girl, ten years 
old. She's happy and healthy, a bright child, 
and quick. Up to about a year ago what we went 
through with that young one you would never 
believe ! You wouldn't believe me if I told you 
the things she did. It looked to me like obses- 
sion, as the spiritualists call it. She would get 
into frenzies of rage, stamp, bite, kick, smash 
things, anything and everything. We scolded 
her, coaxed her, whipped her, shut her up in her 
room, starved her — yes, I 'm ashamed to say, we 
sent her supperless to bed many times — did 
everything we could think of — all no good ; no 
good ; time wasted. Just to give you an idea of 
the kind of things she did, here 's an instance I 
remember : her mother had dressed her one 
day in a new suit of clothes, new shoes, all com- 



74 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 



plete, and when she was ready to go out for a 
walk what do yon suppose the little rascal did ? 
Ran up to the bath room and locked herself in ; 
turned on the water in the bath tub and rolled 
in it, spoiled everything she had on, and got a 
spanking for it! Well, that's only one instance 
in a thousand. Nothing we could do had any 
effect upon her. One day my wife said to me, 
" You are always talking about New Thought 
and the wonderful things it does for you in busi- 
ness^ why shouldn 't we try New Thought on 
Mabel?' 'That's different,' I said, * Mabel is 
too young to understand and she wouldn't 
listen to talks about 'All is good,' anyway. 
'No,' my wife said, 'but you could put things 
in such a way that she would listen. You could 
praise her to me in her hearing, and I could echo 
what you say, and in that way we might undo 
some of the harm we have done ! ' I was aston- 
ished. ' Harm ! ' I said, ' What harm have we 
done ? Haven 't we given up our comfort and 
peace for this ungrateful little wretch ? Doesn't 
she spoil all your happiness ? Has she ever shown 
you any gratitude for all the love you waste on 
her^ putting my claims out of the question ? ' 
But my wife cut me off short. 'That's Just 
where we are wrong,' she said. * You have put 
it all into words for me, and it 's as clear as day. 
We are doing the child great harm. Every man- 
ifestation of temper she shows is something we 
have worked to bring about. We have made the 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 75 

child what she is, and now we must undo it if 
we can. You must help me. You must do most 
of the training at first, because she will notice 
more particularly the things you say. You know, 
she is more afraid of you than she is of me.' 
That was a pretty hard thing for a father to hear, 
you know, because I had always loved the child 
and tried to do the best I could for her, but it 
Was true ! I had to confess it was true. So we 
concocted our plot, if you like to call it so, and 
resolved to put it into effect forthwith. I had 
been doing most of the talking about New 
Thought in that family, but when it came down J:o 
the point of applying New Thought in the case 
of our own daughter I had to let my wife map 
out the plan, and I followed directions. We had 
a good chance to begin that very evening. At 
dinner Mabel upset the salt on the table when 
she thought I was not looking, and when I re- 
proved her for it she burst into such a howl of 
sobbing that she had to be carried kicking and 
fighting out of the room by the servant. My 
wife looked at me in a very exasperating way as 
if I had made a mess of things, and said, ' You 
missed a good opportunity there ! ' * You 
wouldn't have me praise her for upsetting the 
salt out of pure mischief, would you ? ' I said. 
'No, but you don't understand,' she said, 'We 
made her mischievous. We must get the mis- 
chief out of her head. We must overlook all 
her faults for the present and insist, insist al- 



76 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

ways upon her goodness ! ' Well, I don't want 
to weary you by telling you how many times I 
had to bite my tongue to keep still. It seemed 
as if that youngster just romped in devilments 
of all kinds for the next two weeks, but every 
day when I came home I would pick her up in 
my arms and say, * Oh ! I 've got the best and 
sweetest little girl in the whole world. There 
isn't any girl I know as good as my Mabel ! ' 
And my wife would say, * She has been so sweet 
all day. She never gives me any anxiety now. 
I 'm just as proud of her as I can be ! ' So that 
was the way we talked to each other about 
Mabel, and we took good care that she heard it 
all, too. I felt like giving up the game though, 
we seemed to be making so little headway, and 
really it was like telling a lot of lies right 
straight along. But my wife generally has her 
own way about things, and she said she could 
see a difference in the child. ' You don't see it,' 
she said, 'because you are not with her, but I 
have watched her closely and I can see she is 
trying to do better.' The next day when I came 
home my wife met me in the hall ; her face was 
radiant. 'It is all right,' she said, 'I'll tell you 
all about it later.' That evening Mabel climbed 
up on my knee of her own accord and put her 
arms about my neck. 'I'm going to be what 
you said I was,' she whispered, 'the best girl in 
all the world.' And that's what she is today. 
Her bad temper is all gone ; she is anxious to help 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 77 



us ; she is happy ; she is like sunshine about the 
place. That 's my story ; what do you think 
of it ? " 

I told him I thought well of it and wished 
that the power was mine to tell it to the world. 
I did not think at that time that it would ever 
see the light through pen of mine; but here it is, 
and I can only bid its message of love and happi- 
ness God-speed. 




78 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

CHAPTER ELEVEN. 

"You Can" and "You Will." 

HEALTHY boy needs very little en- 
couragement to undertake things, 
but he needs careful watching to see 
that he carries through whatever he 
undertakes. When he understands 
that you demand of him the keep- 
ing of faith with himself, there is bred in him a 
strong determination to *' make good " in all his 
efforts. Boys are inclined to talk big for many 
reasons, the most common being a boast among 
their companions that they can do what so-and- 
so is doing, and do it better. When this tendency 
towards self-assertion crops out it is very nec- 
essary that we should not allow it to lapse into 
mere empty talk; very necessary that we should 
encourage the thought to take form in action. 

Earl discovered that some of the town-boys 
were making money by selling newspapers after 
school hours. He came to me and said that he 
could make money that way, too. *' Very well, 
sweetheart," I said, " if you want to, you may. 
But remember. Earl, if you begin this you must 
carry it through. You will be thrown among 
rough boys, who will play all kinds of tricks with 
you and make things very uncomfortable for you 
because you are a newcomer. You must not 
allow that to discourage you. When you begin 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 79 



anything you must make a success of it. If you 
take this up at all you must continue it for two 
weeks, and then, when you have shown yourself 
and me that you can do what you say you can, 
you may drop it if you want to. But don't come 
to me in a day or two and say you are tired. • 
Begin it and carry it through. The experience 
will do you no harm." 

My friends were aghast at the idea of sending 
Earl to compete on a business footing with "those 
rough boys," but I could not see the matter from 
their point of view. If a boy has the right stuff 
in him it will be best for him to learn to hold 
his own in any company, and he must understand 
that any work is worth doing well for its own 
sake. If my boy wants to sell papers, then I 
want him to sell papers, and to meet any and all 
kinds of competition and discouragement square- 
ly. Earl went forth to the newspaper office with 
the money in his hand for his first day's supply 
of papers. He bought his supply and went to 
work. He had dressed himself in an old suit of 
clothes after coming from school, and that may 
have been one reason why the other boys did not 
molest him. Another reason was, perhaps, that 
he had thrust his cap into his coat-pocket before 
getting dow^n to business, as a measure of precau- 
tion against the prejudices of his fellow- workers. 

He came home radiant. "I sold all my 
papers, mamma," he said, "and made forty cents 
easy. Some of the boys make a dollar a day, but 
they get a longer time to work than I can." 



80 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

The next day was an equally good business 
day. By the third day the novelty had rather 
worn off, and the subject of newspaper selling as 
a means to the rapid acquirement of wealth was 
not brought up as a topic of conversation that 
evening. 

On the fourth day he came back at dusk with 
a bundle of newspapers and a very doleful face. 
He was "stuck," he said. Couldn't sell his 
papers. He didn't like the job, anyway. And so 
forth. 

"Come here to me," I said, and I stood him 
in front of me and looked him very severely in 
the eye. " Now, Earl," I said, " I shall tell you 
why you have not sold your papers. It is be- 
cause your heart is not in your work. It is be- 
cause you have grown faint-hearted and weary. 
No boy of mine can put his hand to the plow and 
look back. Never! You have been doing your 
work in a listless kind of way^ wishing you were 
doing something else. Now look at me, Earl, 
and remember what I say to you. You can sell 
those papers, every one of them. You will go 
right out now in the dark and sell them all. You 
can do it. There is nothing you can't do when 
you resolve. Come! Let me see my boy act 
like the man I take him to be." 

When I talked to Earl in this strain, it was 
odd to watch the little fellow's face flush, to see 
him straighten up, and his eyes grow bright, as 
he caught the infection of my suggestion. He 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 81 



clutched his papers again and his face was eager 
as he said: "All right, mamma, I know I can sell 
them if I want to. I'm going to sell every paper 
before supper." 

Away he went and came back in an hour with 
his full amount of money in his hand. " I sold 
them all," he said. 

I heard no more complaints from him, and 
by the time the two weeks had ended he had 
worked up a good office trade among the business 
men, who were attracted by him and had recog- 
nized his punctuality. He was quite willing to 
continue the business, but I thought the exj^ri- 
ence had been gained, and advised him to turn 
his route over to another boy and go out of the 
newspaper line, for the present. All I cared 
about, I told him, was that he should keep faith 
with himself in everything he undertook to do; 
in the small things as in the large things, a 
promise to himself should be as sacred as an oath 
before a notary public. Moreover, I wanted him 
to know that all labor is sacred. Every task, 
however menial, well done, ranks as high, just 
because of its performance, as any other task. 
The essential thing, the thing which gives dignity ' 
to life, is that whatever is to be done must be 
done well. I think that this experience has been 
a very valuable one to Earl. 

During some years of my life I made a busi- 
ness of giving physical culture entertainments 
in schools, selecting about twenty pupils from 



82 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

each school and carefully drilling them in 
the work of Delsarte and other exercises. The 
training occupied two weeks, after which the 
entertainment was "put on" at the local theatre. 
I chose my pupils from the whole school ranged 
before me, picking out what I called "talent" 
here and there from the number of faces turned 
to mine in expectation of being selected, until 
I had chosen the required number. My instinct 
of selection never failed me here. Character and 
ability are written strongly on faces, and he who 
runs may read. 

On one occasion I happened to have chosen 
the "bad boy" of the school. Everyone told me 
I had made a mistake. His teacher said he was 
incorrigible. His schoolmates said they couldn't 
do anything right where he was! T saw his 
mother. The boy was present at the interview. 
His mother said: "Albert is a bad boy, Mrs. 
Partlow. He won't mind anyone. He does just 
as he's a mind to, and I don't know whatever 
will become of him. Teacher says he's so bad in 
school she's going to report him to the Princi- 
pal." I looked at the boy who was listening to 
this with his usual half -sullen, half -sneering ex- 
pression, and said: " He won't be a bad boy with 
me. I can see talent written all over him. Wait 
until the entertainment comes off, and this boy 
will surprise you!" He did. He surprised them 
all, and he has continued to surprise them. I 
hear from him occasionally yet. He called this 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 83 



the turning point in his life; but it seems odd to 
me that such good metal should have been so 
long overlooked for want of the stroke of the 
miner's pick. 



84 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 




CHAPTER TWELVE 

Entering the Silence 

HILDREN are never too young to 
be trained in the New Thought. 
There were many things I might 
have added in the early days of my 
children's awakening intelligence 
had I known then what has since 
been made so plain. But it must be evident to 
you who read these pages that I was following 
my own intuition in their New Thought training 
and had no human guide. 

It seems to me that almost the first thing to 
teach a child is how "to go into the silence." 
It is wonderful what an interest they take in 
this, and how beneficial it is in developing self 
reliance. My own children gave an hour of 
their time every evening after dinner to this 
practice. Earl called it " unharnessing." It was 
really a complete relaxation of mind and body ; 
nerves and muscles were relaxed, and they were 
gradually taught to so control their thoughts that 
they could sit in the silence with me waiting in 
complete passivity for an hour of perfect repose. 
Sleep is one thing ; conscious repose is 
another. 

I began their training along this line by giv- 
ing each a watch to be held in the hand. I told 
them to concentrate their thoughts upon the 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 85 

watch. "This watch," I said, "is only a point 
for you to concentrate upon. My desire is really 
to get you to such a pitch of concentration that 
you can hold your thoughts absolutely still or 
direct them utterly upon any subject you wish. 
That is, I want to teach you to drive your 
thoughts instead of letting them drive you. So, 
look at the face of the watch, and see for how 
long a time you can keep your thoughts perfectly 
still." When they began this practice their 
thoughts immediately flew anywhere and every- 
where. They thought of the movement of the 
hands of the watch ; then of the mechanism ; 
then of the dial-plate ; the town where the 
watch was made, and so on, running from one 
thing to another. They told me all this when 
we compared notes afterwards. I encouraged 
them to try a little harder next time. " What 
I want you to do," I said, "is to hold your thoughts 
still. That is the essential thing in concentra- 
tion — to be able to stop the whirl of your 
thoughts and hold still — hold still — keeping the 
mind a blank. When you can do this you will 
be getting very near the heart of your individual 
self. You will learn to make your mind a blank 
at will, and the rest and refreshment that will 
come to you from this exercise will compensate 
you fully for all the time you spend in acquiring 
it. When you have attained to this control then 
you will be able to ' hold the thought ' of suc- 
cess in your work for the morrow, or for any 



86 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

special undertaking or desire you have in mind. 
In this way I want you to learn how to make 
your control of thought valuable to yourself. 
First will be the control of thought, then the 
direction of thought, with purpose, directing 
thought at your pleasure for your own advan- 
tage. How much more satisfactory that will be 
than being, as you are, now at the mercy of 
your thoughts ! " 

They saw the force of this reasoning and 
worked with a will. They found that they could 
hold their minds still while looking at the watch 
for a gradually increasing period of time. For a 
minute, a minute and a half, two, three minutes, 
gradually extending the time, while nerves and 
muscles were completely relaxed, until they 
could make their minds blank by concentrated 
effort for five minutes at once. When the atten- 
tion wandered it was recalled by mental effort 
and the mind made blank again. Those who 
have not so worked with themselves have no 
idea of the feeling of utter rest that comes with 
the successful accomplishment of this exercise. 
To me it ranks first in importance of all exer- 
cises in the mental training of the young. They 
take great interest in it aud it is never tiresome. 
The complete rest self-secured in this way is like 
no other rest or relaxation that I know of. 
There is the satisfaction of knowing that we are 
masters of ourselves, that we have brought that 
most unruly of subjects, the human brain, into 



IN THE NEW THOUGHT 87 



subjection to a fixed purpose. We feel that we 
shall henceforth find in ourselves a power of con 
centration upon anything we desire to master in- 
finitely greater than before, and we know that 
there will be scarcely an hour in the day when we 
may not apply our new-found power to our im- 
mediate advantage. We look without and set our- 
selves to conquer obstacles. That is ambition. 
But have we conquered ourselves ? The first 
battleground should be within, I think. The 
first real consciousness of power comes from the 
satisfaction within. What is the purpose of our 
lives here ? Is it not to offer to the high inj^elli- 
gences, who are ready and waiting to communi- 
cate their knowledge to us, a harmoniously re- 
ceptive mind ? When the fight has been won 
and I can bring to the communion with the 
higher powers a spirit of peace and holy quiet, 
then, and only then, can I expect to hear and in- 
terpret aright the Voice that speaks without 
tongue. Such great results spring from the 
smallest beginnings. Looking at the hands of a 
watch ! Communion with the Invisible ; Seer- 
ship ; Adeptship ; Harmony with God and the 
Unseen ! It is the oak and the acorn over again ; 
manifesting upon another plane. 

Let me earnestly recommend all who read 
this chapter to apply themselves to this simple 
practice. This is what is meant by " making a 
center." This is "going into the silence." 
There is only silence when the thoughts are held 



88 TRAINING OF CHILDREN 

in bound. It is in this silence that the spirit 
speaks its message. It is the silence of Healing : 
the silence of Instruction ; the Eloquent Silence. 

It has been shown me that my work is com- 
pleted, and the next ten years of my life will be 
happy and quiet years. I do not know if this book 
will reach as many as I should like to reach, but 
perhaps it will be read when I am no longer here 
to speak. It may do good ; it cannot, T feel, do 
harm. 

While I write this separated from my chil- 
dren for four months longer, I feel the assurance 
thrilling me that I shall be with them again in a 
little while, and shall tell them how proud I am 
to be their mother. The love that passeth un- 
derstanding is most nearly approached, I think, 
by that which binds child to parent, parent to 
child. 

Though there be pangs of parting, heartaches 
and sorrow, it is well, for all is good. 

THE END. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 





PAGE 


Introduction . 


3 


First Steps , • 


7 


Growing .... 


16 


Strengthening the Bonds . 


%28 


Bending Twigs 


35 


Asserting the Self 


43 


The Universal Mother 


49 


The Fruit of Philosophy . 


66 


Death and After 


61 


The Magnetism of Character 


66 


The Application of a Truth 


72 


"You Can" and "You Will" . 


78 


Entering the Silence 


84 



A FULL LIST 



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faces, names, dates, prices, etc., may be developed. This book also explains and 
gives instruction in the great Hindu system of memorizing, whereby the Ori- 
entals memorize their sacred teachings, philosophies, etc. Numerous examples 
and anecdotes illustrating the principles enunciated are given, and the lessons 
are accompanied with exercises calculated to materially strength|p and develop 
the mental faculties of observation, remembrance and recollection. 



CHAPTERS. 



I. The Subconscious Storehouse. 

II. Attention and Concentration. 

III. Acquiring Impressions. 

IV. Eye Perception and Memory. 

V. Exercises in Eye Perception. 
V[. Ear Perception and Memory. 

VII. Exercises in Ear Perception. 

VIII. Association. 

IX. Remembrance, Recollection and 

Recognition 



X. General Principles Regarding Impres- 

sions. 

XI. The Cumulative System of Memory Cul- 

ture. 
XIT. The Ten-Question Thought System. 

XIII. Memory of Figures, Dates and Prices. 

XIV. Memory of Place. 

XV. Memory of Faces. 

XVI. Memory of Names. 

XVII. Artificial Systems. 



Sifk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price, $1.00, postpaid. 

Training of Children in The New Thought, (m Press.) 

By Frances Partlow. 

THIS remarkable book, which will not be issued until March is a spontaneous tribute to 
our teaching by one who grasped the central truths of New Thought intui^^ely and 
without a hSman guide. To some of us knowledge is a simpler Pr°c^ss, comes more 
swiftly than by study, and in this book the singular success of a system of child cuUure 
which was evolved unaided by the writer, and yet which runs exactly Parallel with our 
New Thought teachings is apparent. It is a delightfully companionable book You feel m 
reading it that the writer is simply telling her experience in tbe raining of her children 
and it is beautifulto note how the result is logically what it should be under such guid- 
ance. The book is sorely needed by many parents who ask for just such a guiae. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price, $1.00, postpaid. 

The New Thought Annual, Year 1902. 

WE have been astonished at the demand for this ^oj'^me. So much so tha\i^^i^f^^°^i^? 
the public we have gathered it into a single book .and bound the^same in ci^^^^^ m 
stpnd of offerine it in two half-yearly volumes with paper covers as iiereioiore. we 

high road to success. For this change in their fortunes they thank Mr ^^^ 
him full praise for pointing the way. This work,, therefore f°tains December lyui an 
the twelve numbers of 1902, including courses of instruction in Self-Heaiing, w^ni 
ence and every pba^e of New Thought PbUosophy l^y^^uch vital writes as VVU^^^^ ^^a ^ 
Atkinson, Elizabeth Towne, Ella Wheeler Wilcox Uriel Bucha^^^^^ do\v?finto o^ volume 
Sydney Flower and others. All original copyright matter. »oi^^^°°7j^4 ^oney on this 
at a cost of many thousands of dollars. You get it all ^ Sl-UU, aria we Jo y 

book. But the price of our books must b^ ucitorm, so that we make no duvauvc f 
Thera are 220 pages or reading matter in this book. a., nn «/>«tn<i:<1 

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The Law of The New Thought 

By William Walker Atkinson 

'T^HIS is a plain answer to the oft repeated questions. "What Is The New^ 
•*■ Thought?" "What does it mean?" "What principles does it stand for?" 
"Is it different from what is called Mental Science, or Christian Science?" 
The New Thought is guite different. It is so broad and comprehensive in its 
bearing upon human life and human happiness that it can only be defined by 
its name, New Thought. Mr. Atkinson's new book not only explains what 
the law is upon which New Thought is based, but teaches how it may be used 
to the greatest good of men. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price. $1.00, postpaid. 

The Heart of The New Thought 

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

A NEW book of original essays by this gifted woman dealing with The 
•^^^ New Thought in practice. This book is just oflf the press and the 
demand is enormous. A first edition of 50,000 copies has been ordered. 
It deals with the practice of New Thought in our daily lives. A helpful and 
inspiring book, fully eoual to the very best work this author has done. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price, $1.00, postpaid. 

Mesmerism in India 

By James Esdaile, M. D. 

A CLASSIC from the pen of a surgeon in the British Army, stationed in 
•^"^ India fifty years ago. A most fascinating work for the student of prac- 
tical psychology, containing the plainest description of the methods then in 
vogue of inducing the artificial coma for the performance of painless surgical 
operations. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price, $1.00, postpaid. 

The Home Course in Osteopathy 

A CLEAR and practical work, fully illustrated, for home use, explaining 
"^^ the Theory and Practice of Osteopathy, Massage and Manual Therapeu- 
tics, and illustrating all the different movements. The only complete work of 
the kind ever published. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price, $1.00, postpaid. 

Formerly sold at J5.00 in paper covers. 

Series "A" 

A MASTERLY work dealing with two phases of development: the mental 
showing forth in self-control and force of character: and the spiritual 
as taught through Zoism, the new mental science. This book makes plain 
that which is known as the Law of Mental Currents, and teaches much that is 
new to the student of metaphysics. It is clearly and simply written and has 
been warmly endorsed by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price, $1.00, postpaid. 

Series "B" 

THIS is a book for physicians, dentists, osteopaths and professional nurses 
particularly, inasmuch as it deals with the theory and practice both of 
suggestive therapeutics and magnetic healing. It is intensely practical, and 
gives the clearest directions how to proceed to induce the state of passivity 
necessary for the curing of diseases by these means. It is considered by all 
authorities to be the most complete work, written purely for instruction's sake, 
ever put out. It is well i'lustrated. 

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Series "C" 

'T'HIS is a compilation "bt new, copyright works dealing with the practice of 
clairvoyance or crystal-gazing, human magnetism, auto-suggestion, con- 
centration, and mind reading in its two aspects of muscle reading and true 
telepathy. This book really tells how to perform mind-reading. In this it is 
unique; no other work to our knowledge, being really useful in this regard. 

Silk Cloth. Purple and Gold. Price. $1.00. postpaid. 

Series "D" 

A^LTHOUGH this is the last of this series of books it is in some respects 
•*■ *■ the most important of any, A life-time of study and practice will not 
exhaust its stores of knowledge. It deals with Psychometry, Phrenology, 
Palmistry, Astrology, Mediumship and Somnopathy, This last is a new word, 
coined by the author, Sydney Flower, to define his discovery of a new method 
of educating the young, i. e., during natural sleep. Of this method, a ladyi 
writing in The Washington Post, of recent date, said: "I never punish my 
little ones, I simply wait till they are asleep, and then I talk to them, not 
loud enough, you understand, to wake them, but in a low voice. I tell them 
over and over that they must be good, I suggest goodness to them, for I think 
the mind is just as susceptible to suggestion during the natural sleep as during 
the working state. I concentrate my mind on it, and I am confident that 
before long all mothers will adopt my method. It is the best way I know of to 
bring up children." This method is fully described by its discoverer in this 
work, and the endorsements of prominent physicians are given in full. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price, $1.00. postpaid. 

The Mail-Order Business ^ 

By Sydney Flower 

'T'HIS little book, if we are to judge by the testimony of those who have paid 
•*■ for and read it, exactly fills the need of the many men and women who 
are now looking to the mail-order field as a means of starting in business for 
themselves in a small way. This book is very practical, very simple, very 
much to the point. It teaches how to enter the mail-order field, manufacture 
goods, buy, sell and advertise articles, keep a card-check system, set of books, 
etc., in short, how to conduct a small mail-order business on a limited capital. 

Silk Cloth, Purple and Gold. Price. $1.00. postpaid. 

The Mind's Attainment 

By Uriel Buchanan 

VERY reader of New Thought literature is familiar with the charming 

literary style of Mr. Buchanan. This book, which is now ready and 

selling fast, expresses more nearly the high ideals of the author than 

anything he has hitherto published. It gives the essence of a beautiful and 

uplifting philosophy that cannot fail to benefit and instruct humanity. 

Silk Cloth. Purple and Goicr. Price. $1.00, postpaid. 



THESE BOOKS ARE PUBLISHED AND OWNED BY 

THE PSYCHIC RESEARCH COMPANY, 

3835 VINGENNES AVENUE, 
CHICAGO. 

All books are sold by this company upon the full refmd principle of "Year 
mcney back if the book does not suit you." 



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